I am
I had just finished the unpleasant task of condemning a family member and tearing apart a family. Bravo to me.
Truly, I could never carry on without someone telling me I wasn't wrong. As I thought this, I watched the sight of a parent kneeling before his own daughter.
"Thank you so much for everything today. I sincerely hope we will be able to meet again someday."
It was an unfamiliar gesture. If one wished to give thanks to the gods, one would kneel on both knees and prostrate oneself. I had never seen anyone bow while standing. It truly drove home that this was a child who held memories of living in a different world.
Yet even though the gesture was unfamiliar, the emotions contained within it were painfully clear. Her gratitude and affection for her family were almost visible. And since I was acutely aware that I was the one who had torn apart a family that truly cared for one another, the parting scene pierced me with a sharp pain.
I stared at the door as it closed with a soft click, and the small figure standing alone trembled weakly.
I slightly lowered my eyes and averted my gaze at the same moment
Then, facing the door, he called out sharply.
"
At Ferdinand's sharp command, the grey priest waiting on the other side of the door entered with agile movements. He was, if I recalled correctly, Rozemyne's Attendant, who until recently had been grimacing with every movement due to his injuries.
"My Lady Rozemyne!"
As he rushed toward Rozemyne, I could see traces of the blessing's light. He must have received the blessing's light just as that father had—there was no sign of injury on him. His panicked demeanor made it clear how deeply he cared for his master.
If even the Attendant grey priest had received the blessing's light, just how wide had its range been? As I had witnessed today, whenever someone important was in danger, Rozemyne's powerful Magic Power would go out of control in an instant. I needed to investigate just how many people had received the blessing.
"There's no need to worry so much. She simply overexerted her Magic Power."
Saying this, Ferdinand took out the medicine he always carried and I could see him pouring some concoction into Rozemyne's mouth. It was probably that awful-tasting medicine. It sacrificed taste for effectiveness, but forcing it down the throat of an unconscious child was a terrible thing to do. As always, Ferdinand only considered efficiency. Poor thing.
"Fran, take her back to her room and put her to bed. I will come explain the situation tomorrow afternoon. Make sure all the Attendants are gathered."
"Understood."
Fran lifted the unconscious Rozemyne and carried her out of the room.
The sight seemed to overlap with a scene from a past memory.
"
"Yes."
While I watched Ferdinand give orders to his reliable, unassuming Attendant, I spoke quietly to
"Hey, Karstedt. Don't you think Rozemyne looks more and more like Brau?"
"Brau? Oh, that shumil you used to keep."
Shumils were friendly, cute little creatures that oinked adorably, and were popular among nobility as pets. I had kept one when I was young, but unfortunately, Brau was frail.
I thought Rozemyne and Brau had a lot in common—the lustrous fur somewhere between black and blue, the round golden eyes, the frail constitution, and even the way she was more attached to Karstedt than to me.
When I sought Karstedt's agreement, he furrowed his brow with a disgruntled look.
"Say she was attached to me all you want, but that was your fault. You doted on her and fussed over her too much, and she nearly died. She only became attached to me as a way to escape a life-threatening situation."
"Don't say something so terrible. I loved her properly."
"When you were a child, you really didn't know how to hold back. Chasing her around, crushing her in your hugs, squishing her to bits—of course a small animal would nearly die."
Karstedt let out a heavy sigh and pressed his fingertips to his temples.
So Brau's listlessness during playtime wasn't because she was frail, but because of me.
"Next time, show some restraint. Judging from Ferdinand's reports, Rozemyne is even more fragile than that shumil."
"More fragile than Brau? That would be difficult."
I had thought she feared me because she was a magical beast who recognized my greatness, but she had actually been fleeing for her life.
"...Rozemyne doesn't hate me yet, does she? I just saved her, after all."
"When you first met, you poked and prodded to see how much she could tolerate, and she was thoroughly annoyed. She had that fed-up look on her face. Besides, she's just been separated from her family."
"Nnnngh..."
I saw the unassuming Attendant pushing a wagon with drinks, so I held my mouth shut. I watched cups being placed down with small clinking sounds and quietly let out a sigh.
...There was absolutely nothing glamorous about this.
The Attendants were all men, and thanks to Ferdinand's training, every last one of them worked with no wasted motion and a completely matter-of-fact demeanor. Competent, yes, but truly lacking in any charm or flair.
"Ferdinand, don't you keep any Shrine Maidens as Attendants?"
"I have no use for women who would put on airs of seduction to become a concubine, and having even one woman around puts everyone on edge and disrupts work."
Ferdinand bluntly declared that "there is no need for glamour around me."
"Arno, clear the area. Don't let anyone approach."
"Understood."
The visit from another duchy's noble, the dismissal of the High Priest, Rozemyne's renaming and adoption—all of these had happened suddenly today. Before explaining things to the Attendants and other priests, we would need time to coordinate.
Once all other presences had completely vanished, Ferdinand took a slow sip of tea and gradually let out a breath.
"It seems we've managed to accomplish our objective."
"...Yes."
The capture of Mine, who had resisted the Nobility Contract until the very last moment. The execution of the increasingly outrageous High Priest. The isolation of his mother who had protected him. On top of that, we had secured the nobles connected to the High Priest, and through that, obtained leverage against the neighboring lord. This should quiet the nobles within the territory who had been propping up the mother.
"The results are excellent... but the aftertaste is truly awful."
If one ignored the heavy feeling that came from trapping one's own family member and tearing apart a loving family, one could say it ended with satisfactory results.
"Don't be too down, Sylvester. This should have been the best possible outcome."
"You focus too much on efficiency."
Eighty percent of the reason people occasionally called me underhanded or calculating was because Ferdinand was the one designing those plans.
"I have no emotional attachment whatsoever to the High Priest or to the lord's mother."
Ferdinand snorted. To me they were blood relatives, but to Ferdinand, they were merely obstacles. Even though I knew that, hearing it said so bluntly still stung a little.
"What about Rozemyne? Do you feel nothing about erasing Mine and turning her into Rozemyne?"
"...I believe it was the fastest and, considering the future, the best approach."
Even as he said this, his expression was slightly darker than before. Mine's family had the kind of warmth that nobility—always prioritizing the survival and prosperity of their clan—could never have. Ferdinand apparently felt some guilt about separating a family that genuinely cared for each other.
"That child will probably... be emotionally unstable for a while."
Ferdinand said this with a troubled look, furrowing his brow. He mentioned that during the winter, when she had been confined to the
It was rare for Ferdinand, who was generally lacking in sentiment, to show such concern. Rozemyne's presence might actually be good for Ferdinand's emotional development, for someone who only thought in terms of efficiency.
"If Rozemyne becomes unstable from losing her family, I'll leave it to you two to comfort and indulge her. I won't be getting involved."
"Sylvester?"
"I am Aub Ehrenfest. I can't even indulge my own biological son, so how could I possibly indulge an adopted daughter?"
Rather than indulging Rozemyne, his adopted daughter, I wanted to indulge my own child, who would one day bear the same heavy burden I did. But everyone around me kept telling me, ad nauseam, that in order to raise the next lord, I absolutely could not spoil her.
"You've been clumsy like this since you were young."
Karstedt gave a bitter smile. If only someone as rational and efficient as Ferdinand had become lord. I truly regretted that Ferdinand's mother hadn't been the first wife.
"More importantly, is Rozemyne going to be all right? She was calling upon the Supreme God and the five major gods. Even a healthy person would collapse from that—she's really not dead, is she?"
Karstedt glanced toward the door. I followed his gaze and gave a slight shrug.
Normally, one never prayed to multiple gods simultaneously. It would drain a massive amount of Magic Power and drastically reduce the success rate. In particular, the Life God concealed the
"If anything, it would have been stranger if it had succeeded. I was absolutely certain that blessing would fail."
As I crossed my arms and said this, Karstedt—who would from now on effectively become Rozemyne's birth father—let out a long groan and stared up at the sky.
"She pulled off something incredible, but Rozemyne probably doesn't understand the significance or the rarity of what she did, does she?"
"No, not at all."
"Did Ferdinand receive the blessing? Did you teach her how to use Magic Power?"
The blessing's light that had avoided me and Karstedt had reached Ferdinand. He must have built that kind of relationship with her, but the fact that I hadn't received any of that blessing was rather annoying. I glared at Ferdinand for taking my place as her adoptive father, and he glared right back.
"Drop it. I've told you this many times. Mine could use Magic Power from the very beginning."
The request from the Knights' Order during the Trombe extermination had been
After that, Myne had apparently given the Knights' Order a blessing from the God of War without any warning. All she had wanted to do was pray for everyone's good fortune after becoming frightened at the sight of the Trombe. It made no sense.
"I chose words that sounded like something a noble might say, and she said she accidentally produced a blessing—she was surprised too. But I was far more surprised to suddenly receive a blessing. I have never taught her a single thing about how to use Magic Power."
"She certainly seemed experienced with it—but to think it was her first time, a blessing triggered by chance."
Karstedt stroked his chin, letting out a sigh that was half admiration, half exasperation, as a recipient of the God of War's blessing.
The fact that she had been compressing overflowing Magic Power entirely on her own, without any instruction or assistance, and that she had unintentionally produced a blessing while praying for good fortune—honestly, it was incomprehensible.
"I can hardly believe the blessing just happened on its own, but how did someone that young become so skilled at handling Magic Power?"
"...I believe it's because she has memories of living in a different world until she was an adult, and she had exceptional learning ability."
A child's mental capacity couldn't contain Magic Power. But Mine had the memories of an adult from another world within a child's body. So Ferdinand theorized that those memories had allowed her to suppress it.
"By serving as a Shrine Maiden Apprentice in blue and making offerings to the divine instruments, she became accustomed to having her Magic Power in an active state. And then, by chance, she spoke the name of a god, which turned it into a blessing. Once she had magic stones, she learned she could manipulate Magic Power freely. Additionally, she witnessed a knight imbuing a weapon with the Darkness God's blessing, and she herself actually used a divine instrument to offer a prayer, which resulted in a blessing. That was when she learned that praying to a god with the right words would grant a blessing."
"Even so, could she really produce all those words at a moment's notice?"
The prayer to receive a god's blessing was lengthy. One had to memorize not only the god's name, but also what kind of blessing that god would bestow. Since the Trombe extermination was the Knights' Order's job, memorizing the prayer for the Darkness God's blessing was something knight apprentices had to do early on, but everyone had struggled with it.
"According to Myne, once you memorize one prayer, you just need to combine the names and phrases of the gods as listed in the Holy Book."
Indeed, what Myne had said during the Spring Prayer was something as crude as "Praying to a god becomes magic, right?" It wasn't wrong, but anyone educated at the
"...From now on, she'll be moving about as Rozemyne, carrying Magical Tools. Perhaps I should teach her a bit about magic, shouldn't I?"
Magical Tools were essential for nobles. For an ordinary child, a Magical Tool that could simply absorb overflowing Magic Power would suffice. But with Rozemyne, one never knew what she might get involved in, so I intended to give her magic stones that could release Magic Power as well.
"What Sylvester says is right. It's more dangerous for her to use things in her own self-taught way. Who knows what she'll pick up and from where."
Karstedt nodded at my suggestion. Ferdinand furrowed his brow and placed his hand on his chin. I was well acquainted with that contemplative pose—it meant he was drafting an educational plan, heralding one of Ferdinand's passionate teaching sessions. Poor thing. Served him right.
"Ah, yes. Ferdinand, also perform a health check on Rozemyne. Didn't she mention something concerning before? If there's a problem with her Magic Power flow, couldn't you prepare medicine for it?"
Now that she was the lord's adopted daughter, having a doctor perform an elaborate examination would only cause a fuss if anything abnormal were found. If it was a rare condition, eccentric researchers might show up wanting to examine her. If we wanted to keep it quiet, it would be best to do it within the family before she moved to the Noble District.
"With Rozemyne, I have a feeling nothing ever ends normally, so as Sylvester suggests, it would probably be better to do it at the Temple."
Ferdinand said this with a deep furrow of his brow. When it came to Rozemyne, even Ferdinand couldn't make predictions. She was a child with memories of another world—without those Magical Tools, he probably wouldn't have been able to trust her at all. She was highly useful, but it was best to keep things as discreet as possible.
"Also, give this to
"What is this?"
"Settings for our cover story, and the plan going forward."
If the three of us firmly declared that Rozemyne was Karstedt's daughter and had been raised in the Temple to hide her from the world, we could manage the Noble District and the Temple however we needed. But since we'd barely been involved with the Commoner District until now, we had no idea how widely Mine's existence was known or in what capacity.
"Leave matters concerning the Commoner District to people from the Commoner District. Benno seemed quite useful. If we give him instructions, he'll manage."
Ferdinand, who was usually on the receiving end of my instructions and getting dumped with tasks, accepted the documents with a subtly disgruntled expression. He skimmed the papers and his eyes went wide.
"Sylvester, I understand the cover story. But what is this about a dinner at an Italian restaurant!?"
Tsk. The nagging lecture had begun. Serious, stubborn, inflexible, a rationalist to the core. How on earth had he grown into such a man? He aged so quickly because he lacked any sense of play.
"Are you listening, Sylvester?"
"Well, it's like this. ...You see, when expanding the printing business, there are many things that need to be decided with Benno, right?"
Even Karstedt's eyes widened at my answer.
"There's no need for the Lord himself to go to the Commoner District! You could simply summon him here!"
"No. That's no fun. Besides, I want to eat that food."
"State your pretense before your real reason!"
If one didn't have a pretense, one couldn't even walk freely through one's own city—such was the lot of being a lord. What a pain. But a pretense would suffice.
Picking my ear with my pinky, I stated my pretense.
"...Well, as a pretense, it would be difficult to have a meaningful discussion with a Commoner District merchant when surrounded by stiff court officials, wouldn't it? They'd just receive my orders and that would be it. We wouldn't be able to incorporate the opinions of someone who's already achieved success."
Surrounded by a large number of court officials, it would be difficult to even allow a Commoner to give a direct answer, let alone draw out their opinions.
"As for the printing business, I've already been discussing it with Benno. At the very least, it's not a sudden proposition for the Gilberta Company."
When I had gone to inspect the orphanage and encountered Benno, it had been a coincidence for me. I hadn't expected that someone in the orphanage workshop would know who I was, the Lord.
I had sworn Benno to secrecy and also asked for his perspective as a merchant. I learned that not just me and Ferdinand, but Benno as well, believed the printing business would change history.
Rapid change would face strong resistance. But the rapid change existed because Mine possessed knowledge from another world. When I had asked Benno, "In the worst case, if we killed Mine, would the current stop?", he had slowly shaken his head.
"No. Plant Paper that can be mass-produced, unlike Parchment, is already in circulation. The method for making printing-suitable ink has been conveyed to workshops through the Ink Guild, and mass production has begun. The method for making the metal type needed for printing has also reached the blacksmiths' workshops. And a prototype printing press has been completed. All of these people have been involved, and there's even an apprentice merchant whose dream is not just to stay in this city but to sell books everywhere. The current won't stop simply because Mine alone is gone."
That was why, Benno said, they were hiding Mine's existence and selectively selling the products that were brought to them.
"If Mine were here, the current would accelerate. To the point of exasperation, Mine thinks of nothing but books."
It was only a matter of time before the printing business reached the wider world. Destroying the Plant Paper workshop, Mine Workshop, the ink workshop, the blacksmith workshop, and suppressing all the information that had spread through the Ink Guild—even for a lord, that would be impossible.
If the current couldn't be changed, the only option was to make it serve the territory.
"I have already informed the Gilberta Company that we intend to make Mine-centered printing industry an Ehrenfest enterprise, and that they should prepare so that it can be accelerated when Mine becomes a noble. As a first step, we're planning to build similar workshops at orphanages in nearby towns."
We would need to dispatch court officials and the Gilberta Company to nearby towns to survey what kind of workshops could be built—the space, the number of people, the necessary tools.
"In any case, Rozemyne won't be able to go outside until after the
I looked at Ferdinand to confirm that my pretense was satisfactory, but he had deep furrows between his brows and was pressing his temples.
"Could you please use that ability of yours for something other than your own amusement?"
"I always give my all, even for things beyond my own amusement!"
I was giving my all both in sneaking away from work behind Ferdinand's back and in scheming to redistribute tasks to others to lighten my own load. To be thought of as only giving my all for my own amusement was unfair.
The seven chimes of the bell rang out loudly. It seemed we had been talking for quite some time. When I stood up, the other two rose as well.
"That's all for today. The details regarding the Baptism Ceremony will be discussed after the Lord's Conference. I need to return to the central region now."
I had snuck away from the Lord's Conference dinner with Karstedt just the two of us. I needed to be back before the main session began tomorrow morning.
"I would request that you take the Vice Commander as your escort. I must prepare for Rozemyne's Baptism Ceremony and would like to remain here."
"Very well. Then, Ferdinand and Karstedt—perform the health check, and once Karstedt has the acceptance arrangements in order, move Rozemyne to the Noble District."
In the meantime, the Temple side would need to make preparations to receive Rozemyne as the High Priest.
"Leave the explanation to Benno and the various Temple arrangements and preparations to Ferdinand. Leave the Baptism Ceremony preparations and the processing of the criminals we captured today to Karstedt."
At my words, both of them briefly knelt.