"Come to think of it, the Chief Priest mentioned that a meeting would be held starting from the third bell today. But what exactly is it that we do at this meeting? Do you know,
I had never heard the word "meeting" used in the
"Now that you mention it, this will be Lady Rozemine's first time attending a meeting. The day after the
At Fran's explanation, I clapped my hands together. Last year I had been excluded from the meeting because I was underage and couldn't attend the Noble District's Baptism Ceremony, and because they didn't want to give the Commoners any advantage during the Harvest Festival.
Starting this year, however, I apparently had to attend every meeting as the High Priest. I really had been a Blue Shrine Maiden Apprentice in name only last year.
"Fran, I don't know anything about the territories at all, but would it be all right if you gave me a brief overview before the meeting?"
I had heard that once
"It would be difficult to cover everything in such a short time. Would it be all right if I prioritized explaining the places you will be dispatched to?"
"…The meeting determines where we go, doesn't it?"
"To be precise, the Chief Priest has already made the decisions. The meeting is simply to announce them."
Previously the High Priest had made the decisions, but this year the Chief Priest had apparently taken over that role. All I had to do was approve what the Chief Priest had decided.
Fran began listing village names one after another, but without a map, it was hard to absorb any of it.
"Fran, at the very least, could I have a map?"
"There isn't time to borrow one from the Chief Priest right now. Shall I tell you about the Harvest Festival first?"
"Please do."
The Harvest Festival was, as the name suggested, a festival to celebrate the year's harvest in the farming villages and offer thanks to the gods.
At least one Blue Priest and one civil official were required to attend. The civil official handled tax collection. The priests performed baptism ceremonies, coming-of-age ceremonies, and wedding ceremonies simultaneously in the villages. In spring, food supplies were already dwindling and everyone was busy preparing to return to their summer dwellings, so it was apparently not suitable for a festival.
Furthermore, in the villages governed by nobles, in addition to the religious rites, they had to collect the small Holy Cups. Unlike the Dedication Ritual, where we could simply go and perform the blessings and come back, the Harvest Festival was apparently quite busy.
"Lady Rozemine, it's the third bell. Shall we head to the meeting?"
The meeting room was roughly the size of a school classroom, with several long tables arranged in rows to form a large rectangle.
At a rough glance, all the Blue Priests were present, yet the tables were less than half filled. The severe shortage of priests was plain to see.
With everyone's attention focused on me, I walked along the side of the long table and sat in the chair Fran had pulled out. Sitting alone at the short end of the long table made me feel rather important, but thinking about it carefully, I was the High Priest—the most senior person. The Chief Priest looked even more imposing, though, which made me tend to forget that I was the top authority.
"I would now like to discuss the autumn Baptism Ceremony and the Harvest Festival."
The Chief Priest served as chairman and simply stated the decisions, so the meeting proceeded briskly. In the middle of it,
It seemed that even after the High Priest was replaced, the Blue Priests' treatment within the Temple had not changed. Those who had been nervous at first had come to assume, on their own, that their way of life would continue as before.
"The fact that Rozemine did not take a hard line does not mean your behavior is acceptable. If you cannot follow the decisions of both the High Priest and the Chief Priest, you should also consider leaving the Temple."
He laid it bare for the Blue Priests—who had nowhere to go even if they returned home—that if they were dissatisfied, they could leave. Having delivered that rebuke, the Chief Priest tightened the reins on the Blue Priests and announced the assignments for the Baptism Ceremony in the Noble District.
"Why aren't the High Priest and the Chief Priest attending the Baptism Ceremony?"
In response to one Blue Priest's question, the Chief Priest gave a slight shrug.
"We have duties at the castle, and there may also be a summons from the Knights' Order. Those are matters that cannot be delegated to other Blue Priests. What you can do, you will do. And from now on, future work assignments will also be determined by your level of contribution to the Temple."
"I see. I understand clearly."
He had mentioned that the paperwork the High Priest had been outsourcing would eventually be distributed among the other Blue Priests as well, but that sounded like it was still a long way off.
"…That concludes the meeting. See to it that each of you confirms your assignments and makes preparations."
In the end, the meeting ended with me still completely unable to comprehend the names of the places I was being sent to. Fran had been diligently taking notes on a writing tablet, so I would have him cross-reference them with a map later and explain.
As I was thinking this, the Chief Priest called out to me as I stood to leave.
"Rozemine, I will give you a detailed explanation this afternoon. Stay in your room and wait."
"Yes."
Shortly after finishing lunch, the Chief Priest arrived carrying a stack of documents, with Zaum in tow. Documents were laid out on the table and spread open.
"Regarding the Harvest Festival—what do you know about it?"
"I only heard a little from Fran before the meeting. I know almost nothing."
The Chief Priest gave me an explanation much the same as Fran's.
"What the priests and shrine maidens perform are religious rites. We only visit the farming villages twice a year, so everything that needs to be done must be completed during those visits."
Apparently, they received food as donations in return. This food could be used for Winter Preparations. However, the Harvest Festival required visiting roughly fifteen locations. If I received food at every stop, it would only spoil.
"Even if I received food, it would just increase my baggage and be so inconvenient. Wouldn't it spoil?"
"What do you think the civil officials are there for? Obviously it's to transport things with Magical Tools."
There were Magical Tool arrays for sending and receiving. The taxes collected were shipped directly to the castle on the spot. The food received by the Blue Priests was transported at the same time, and they would go pick it up from the Noble District later.
"I—I had no idea such convenient Magical Tools existed!"
"If they weren't convenient, they wouldn't be worth using as Magical Tools. Don't state the obvious."
Since they used precious Magic Power, a good Magical Tool was one that was convenient and beneficial to as many people as possible.
"If merchants used those Magical Tools, I think distribution would improve even more and things would really flourish."
"Yes, indeed. If merchants had Magic Power, they would already be using them—I think so too."
"Ugh… Chief Priest, I want a Magical Tool that can be used even without Magic Power."
"That would no longer be a Magical Tool."
With that, the Chief Priest cut off the discussion about Magical Tools and changed the subject. "As for where you'll be going for the Harvest Festival…"
"Where will I be going? I couldn't understand any of the village names at all."
In the education I received before the Baptism Ceremony, I had been taught about family relationships and their territories. The place names I already knew turned out to be where the other Blue Priests were being sent, and none of them were among the places I would be visiting this time.
"I will explain now. Zaum, Fran—a map."
Zaum and Fran spread a map across the table. It was the same map color-coded in red and blue that the Chief Priest and my father had been peering at during the Dedication Ritual.
"The red areas are the lord's direct territories. The blue areas are those governed by nobles. Since this is your first Harvest Festival, Rozemine, I have assigned you to this area here—relatively close to Ehrenfest."
As Fran listed the village names, the Chief Priest pointed at the map, tracing the route with his fingertip—first day, second day.
"For somewhere described as close, it stretches surprisingly far north to south."
"We're also having you collect materials along the way."
"Huh?"
The Chief Priest's finger landed on Dollvan, the southernmost village in the area I would be visiting.
"In the forest beyond Dollvan, there is a magical tree called Luerel. It bears fruit on the night of the full moon, and it is said that the night of Schtzeria accumulates the most Magic Power."
"Schtzeria's Night? You mean the full moon at the end of autumn when the Life God Ewigliebe is resurrected, and the Wind Goddess Schtzeria, who refuses to let the
As I confirmed while recalling the mythology from the Holy Book, the Chief Priest nodded, saying, "Good—it seems you have read it thoroughly."
"The Luerel fruit gathered on Schtzeria's Night is a necessary ingredient for your medicine, Yurwève. Of the autumn ingredients that can be collected within Ehrenfest's territory, the Luerel fruit has the highest quality."
Incidentally, the medicine's ingredients had to be gathered across spring, summer, autumn, and winter—materials with Magic Power from each season—so no matter how quickly they were collected, it took a full year.
And in my case, since the Magic Power had solidified so long ago that I couldn't even remember it, I apparently needed the highest quality ingredients possible.
"I too must attend the Harvest Festival, so I cannot accompany you."
"But you came with me for the Dedication Ritual?"
"The Dedication Ritual had various dangers and things I wanted to investigate."
This time, we would be acting separately. It was my first Harvest Festival—would I be all right? As my expression clouded with worry, the Chief Priest said lightly, "It will be fine."
"In addition to your escort knights, I will assign
I tilted my head at the unfamiliar names.
"I know Brother Eckhart, but who is Justus?"
"He is the civil official in charge of tax collection who will accompany you. He is Richenda's son."
Richenda's dear little grandson—somehow that felt quite reassuring. He had probably chosen people who posed no danger to me. Both Brother Eckhart and Richenda's son were people close to the lord.
"Regarding both the material collection and the Harvest Festival, if you do as they say, there should be no problems. The collection tools will be handed to you as the Harvest Festival draws near."
"Thank you."
Since autumn had only just begun, there was still time before the Harvest Festival, which started from mid-autumn. I was told to get accustomed to handling riding beasts before then.
"Oh, also—
"Yes, I've heard about that as well."
The orphanage door had been installed and a fair amount of daily necessities had been delivered. I had been asked to move the Gray Priests and Gray Priestesses there, establish their living arrangements, and resolve any shortages before the Harvest Festival.
"When moving the Gray Priests, a large amount of food and supplies also needs to be transported, so he has requested that soldiers be mobilized as escorts."
"The
There were still many things that needed to be transported—food, workshop tools, and more. Although Hassway was not far enough away to take more than half a day to reach, transporting large loads repeatedly apparently attracted attention from those with ill intent. In fact, I heard they had already been targeted.
The Chief Priest glanced at me briefly and spoke.
"I will appoint the Gate Captain of the East Gate for that role…"
"I'll ride along in the carriage too!"
The Gate Captain of the East Gate was Dad. I shot my hand up high.
I had been planning to go by riding beast, and I wasn't fond of carriages, but I steeled myself, thinking I could endure it if it meant seeing Dad. But then the Chief Priest's eyes flew wide open.
"Fool! If the lord's daughter were to travel outside the city by carriage, the escort would have to be the Knights' Order. There would be no role for the lower-town soldiers at all!"
"Ehhh!? No!"
My shoulders drooled at the thought that this was a rare opportunity yet I wouldn't even get to see him. The Chief Priest pressed his temple and said, "Listen carefully."
"You will travel by riding beast as the lord's daughter, accompanied by me and the escort knights. However, I intend to have the soldiers assigned to the carriage also serve as your guards during your stay. You will have at least several opportunities to see each other face to face."
Shaking his head with a weary "Honestly, you…" I nodded with a beaming smile at the news he had given me.
The moment my talk with the Chief Priest ended, I headed straight for the director's office. I had Monica fetch
When the two arrived, I noticed Daumer muttering "Are we looking at that again?" and appointed him as the guard for the hidden room before slipping inside immediately.
"Lutz, Lutz~!"
I skipped over to Lutz with a hum, throwing myself into a tight hug. Lutz couldn't keep up with my energy, and warned me in a tired voice, "You'll catch a fever."
"Hehehe~. So, Dad is going to be one of the escorts when the Gray Priests are taken to the Hassway orphanage! I'm going to see him for the first time in ages!"
At my practically-dancing report, Lutz blinked several times, then furrowed his brow slightly and tilted his head.
"…Huh? Benno said nobles go to the orphanage by riding beast, so even if you serve as escort, you won't be able to see each other. I heard from Turi and
The news of the escort assignment had apparently already spread through the Gate, and Dad had eagerly volunteered when the offer came around. But then, upon learning that I would be traveling by riding beast as a noble, Dad had apparently become quite dejected. According to Turi, he complained so often about not wanting to go to work that it was becoming a nuisance.
In other words, Dad and I had both become equally dejected at the realization that riding beast travel would keep us apart. What a peculiar connection.
Suppressing my laughter, I relayed to Lutz: "Even though we'll be traveling by riding beast, the Chief Priest said that while we're in Hassway, the soldiers will also serve as our guards, so we'll have several chances to see each other."
"For real!? Then I'll let Gunther know. He's been so down—once he hears that, he'll be motivated to work again."
"Yeah, tell him I'm looking forward to it too! Oh, I'll write him a letter."
I hurriedly wrote a letter saying "I'm really looking forward to seeing you, so keep up the good work at your job" and handed it to Lutz.
The next day, Lutz returned with the letter delivered and reported back with a grin.
Apparently, the moment Dad read the letter, his motivation came rushing back in a way that was almost comical to watch. I heard that Mom and Turi laughed and said, "We told him the same thing and he didn't cheer up at all, but one little letter and he's back to normal."
Once the Chief Priest gave his permission, the movement of the Gray Priests and Gray Priestesses was carried out immediately. Two carriages that Benno had sent lined up at the back gate of the Temple, and the Gray Priests and Priestesses climbed in—three to a carriage.
The residents of the orphanage gathered at the back gate to see off their new beginning, with me—also the orphanage director—standing at the very front.
"Then, we shall take charge of Lady Rozemine's precious priests."
I gave
Mark and Lutz had bitter smiles on their faces as they looked toward the carriages. There, a lone soldier was kneeling.
"I will be heading to Hassway myself later as well. Please take care of the escort along the way."
He was supposed to be escorting from the East Gate to Hassway, yet he had come all the way to the Temple alone to pick up the Gray Priests' carriage. I stifled my wry smile and offered my greeting.
"Leave it to me."
Rising to his feet, Dad flashed a grin and thumped his chest twice with his right fist. I returned the same gesture and watched the carriages depart from the Temple.
Autumn brings the Harvest Festival as its biggest event.
And it's time for Dad—Gunther—to shine once more.
Next time: the completion of the Hassway orphanage.