After the adult ceremony ended, I spent roughly a week in a laid-back rhythm at the
I had plans to read starting that afternoon. While helping the Chief Priest and eagerly waiting for the fourth bell, he called out to me.
"
"Yes. I'm going to read."
"Hmm. If you have nothing in particular, that works out well."
Wait, wait, wait! Hold on. I just clearly said I had plans, didn't I?
"I do have plans! I'm going to read. Please listen properly."
"That doesn't count as a plan. Discussing the outfits for the Magical Tools at the Library takes priority."
I wanted to scream, "Don't just decide the priorities on your own!" But when it came to Schwarz and Weiss's outfits, I was the one who had asked the Chief Priest for help. If I insisted on reading and got left behind, the only person it would inconvenience was me.
Sinking into a sense of defeat, I drooped my head. The Chief Priest seemed to take my nod as agreement and murmured a quiet "Very well."
"We'll be using your workshop. Attendants will bring in the materials and documents, so leave the door open."
"...Yes, ma'am."
When the fourth bell rang, I returned to my room, finished lunch, and then, as the Chief Priest had instructed, opened the hidden room's door so it was ready for entry.
I gazed longingly at the shelf where the books I had prepared for reading were stored, and let out a sigh.
"Aaah, I really wanted to read."
"Perhaps tomorrow. There's a meeting with the
"You said it wasn't just hair ornaments, but what else will you be ordering?"
Monica asked with a puzzled expression, "Don't you decide on outfits in consultation with the Attendants at the castle?" I proudly declared my answer.
"A hair ornament for
"...Armbands? What exactly are those?"
"Something like this."
I unfurled the life-size template I had drawn on paper for Turi to see and showed it to Monica. Incidentally, the "Library Committee" portion was written in kanji, lettered in a Mincho-style typeface. Those around me would surely have no idea what it said. But it made me happy because it put me in the mood of being a library committee member.
I intended to order four armbands in different colors for Turi: one each for Schwarz, Weiss, and myself, and one for Hannalore, my new friend.
I really wanted Hannalore to be a fellow book lover and join the Library Committee with us. If she refused, I'd let it go, but I thought it would be wonderful for Hannalore to wear matching armbands with Schwarz and Weiss and participate in Library Committee activities.
"Once I'm a second-year student, I'll be doing Library Committee activities with my friends at the
A white bird slipped silently through the wall and entered the room. It circled once and fluttered down onto the desk.
"Lady Rozemyne. This is
My mother's voice came through the Ordinary three times. Right after, another white bird flew in and landed on the desk, transforming into a letter. It was a response about the dramatic before-and-after renovation, compiled not so much by Charlotte as by her attendant scholars. I read through the letter.
It seemed that
The King granted permission, and sewers and sticky goop for waste treatment were installed at the Drewanchel dormitory. The area around it, where people had previously dumped waste as a matter of course, became beautiful and pleasant to live in.
The Central Domain confirmed the results, bought the rights, and used the dramatic before-and-after to beautify the Royal Academy and the Royal Capital, commending Drewanchel in the process.
After that, the dramatic before-and-after trend began to spread across every duchy. Because each duchy had to submit an application at the Lord's Conference, pay for the rights, and obtain permission before proceeding, there was naturally a time lag of several years before each duchy implemented it.
Of course, this trend also flowed from top to bottom, so Ehrenfest, which at the time ranked alongside small duchies near the very bottom, was late in receiving permission. Over ten years passed after Drewanchel's implementation before Ehrenfest was finally able to do a dramatic before-and-after.
However, things did not proceed so smoothly. The timing of the permission was unfortunate. The Princess of
The excellent Lord candidate, his wife, and the children who had been raised as the next Lord candidate—all of them had to leave Ehrenfest's city, and the Lord's family's total Magic Power dropped dramatically. It was at that time.
Even with reduced manageable Magic Power, maintaining appearances was important in noble society. Ehrenfest first renovated the Royal Academy's dormitory, which was the first thing other duchies' members saw, with a dramatic before-and-after. Several years later, the Lord's castle. And several years after that, the Noble District.
The Lower City was left untouched. "We'll fix it later, when we have the resources," was the reasoning. Unfortunately, Ehrenfest never did acquire those resources. And time just continued to pass, apparently.
The reason why the Lower City had not been developed had already been forgotten. In fact, the generation that knew was disappearing, so the letter from Charlotte concluded after she had consulted with my adoptive father.
"Up until now it hasn't been a big deal because there wasn't anything that attracted attention and few merchants came from other duchies, but from now on they'll be coming in droves, so something has to be done."
...But even now, there's no surplus of Magic Power, is there?
The blueprints for the castle and Noble District renovations were documents belonging to Creation Magic, which only the Lord could handle, so they were stored in the Lord's document archive. My adoptive father's scholars had apparently confirmed this.
No wonder I didn't know about them, even though I had compiled the Library's document catalog. I'd like access to that archive too.
"Lady Rozemyne, the Chief Priest has arrived."
"Yes."
I put away Charlotte's letter and asked to be shown to the workshop to receive the Chief Priest.
The Chief Priest's Attendants entered and three wooden crates were carried into the workshop. The Attendants left, and there were now six people in the workshop: the Chief Priest,
This was because, since I was engaged, it would have been improper to meet the unmarried Chief Priest without noble Attendants or guards.
"There are quite a few of us. It's a bit cramped in here."
"My workshop is even smaller, and no one but you can enter due to the Magic Power restrictions, so there's no helping it. Besides, this is the minimum number. If we tried to do this at the castle, several scholars and several Attendants would come along, making it an even larger crowd."
Saying this with an exasperated expression, the Chief Priest spread out a cloth with a magic circle on it—the same kind I had seen when creating Leve—and began taking out material after material from the crates. Justus busily packed the nonchalantly produced materials into the wooden crates.
Eckhart already seemed to have received his instructions, as he was pulling documents from a document case he had brought in and spreading them out on the worktable. They appeared to be documents compiling the research results of
"Eckhart, may I look too?"
"You'll have to look later whether you like it or not. Move your head. You're in the way."
While executing the Chief Priest's orders, Eckhart chased me away with a cold attitude and continued spreading out the documents.
"Lady Rozemyne, when everyone is busy, you mustn't interrupt. In times like these, it's best to take a step back and stay quiet. That way, preparations will proceed smoothly."
Angelica taught me the words her parents had told her: doing nothing is the greatest help. Come to think of it, I did remember that when Angelica talked about brain work, she would take a step back and watch everyone with a gentle smile. When she wanted to appear uninvolved, she would step back and smile. I learned yet another strange fact about Angelica.
"Chief Priest, please let me know when the preparations are ready."
Since there was nothing for me to do in the workshop and I'd just be treated as a nuisance until things were set up, I decided to read as originally planned. Angelica was surprised that I would read during the waiting time, but I didn't want to hear that from the only person who had been secretly doing physical enhancement training in the corner of the workshop while everyone else was busy.
"First, look at this."
The Chief Priest pointed at the documents on the desk being used as a worktable. After a brief apology for the poor manners, I knelt on the chair and leaned forward to peer at them.
There were ten sheets of paper, each with a complex magic circle drawn largely and individually, and one larger sheet showing the combined design when all the magic circles were overlaid.
"
Angelica's eyes were gleaming. It seemed that improved magic circles belonged to their developer, so permission was required. The Chief Priest looked caught off guard by Angelica's request.
"...Someone who can't even operate a Calculator thinks she can do embroidery?"
"I can. I will. This magic circle is truly magnificent. Please give me permission to embroider it on my mantle."
Angelica's eyes sparkled brilliantly. Her pleading to be allowed to do embroidery made her look like a delicate, sewing-loving princess.
"If it helps with making the outfits, I'll permit it then. Help with the embroidery around these areas."
"Leave it to me."
...I had thought Angelica was a bit hopeless, but she was surprisingly high in feminine charm. I was losing.
The Chief Priest continued his explanation as I slumped in defeat at being outclassed by Angelica.
"The outfits for the Magical Tools at the Library had complex defensive magic circles intricately sewn in. You know that, right?"
"Yes."
"With Hirschur's and my research, we were able to improve upon what existed before. From here on, new outfits will need to be made. We must gather materials, perform alchemy, and create the necessary components."
He muttered that ideally he wanted to advance research on Schwarz and Weiss themselves like Hirschur had, but outfit creation took priority. I wholeheartedly agreed. I wanted thorough research done after the outfits were made. If the outfit research was declared finished and I got dumped with outfit creation right now, I'd be in trouble.
"Gathering materials—does that mean another gathering trip?"
"No, I have the materials, so that's not a problem. Gathering would take too much time. You'll need to create threads imbued with your Magic Power to form magic circles, and magical stones to store your Magic Power—the very magic stones that are essential to the Magical Tools' master, you."
It seemed that to use the magic circles effectively, the threads forming the circles also required my Magic Power, and magical stones to store my Magic Power would be needed as well.
"...Isn't the burden of providing materials too much for the Chief Priest?"
"In exchange for the new outfits, I'll take the old outfits that have been worn until now. They have the same number of magical stones attached, and I want to study the threads and fabric as well."
His smile clearly said that was his real motive, and I understood why the old Schwarz and Weiss outfits had never turned up. After the new outfits were made, he must have either reclaimed the released materials or disassembled them to study the previous outfits' magic.
"Even just the button magical stones—can't we at least reuse the ones from before?"
If we could at least swap out the buttons in the end, we wouldn't need extra materials, and alchemy wouldn't be necessary either. Wouldn't that save time and Magic Power?
The Chief Priest shook his head at my suggestion.
"It's not that you can't, but considering Magic Power efficiency, it's better to replace them with your own. You can't just go to the Royal Academy whenever you please, so at least make the magical stones as efficient as possible."
He told me it would be troublesome if a Magical Tool suddenly stopped working midway, and I nodded. Between spring and autumn, I intended to go to the Royal Academy's Library several times to supply Magic Power—so I said, while looking forward to reading—but it would be a problem if Schwarz and Weiss stopped working before I could get there. If they suddenly shut down,
"Now then, for the method of making the outfits, we start by preparing the threads for embroidering the magic circles. Since you, as the master, must do the embroidery, it will require time."
"Yes!? I have to do all the embroidery myself!?"
The idea that I, the master, had to embroider made my mind go blank. Hirschur had said this would become a duchy-wide initiative, so I had assumed the detailed embroidery work would be entrusted to girls with high feminine skills who excelled at that sort of thing.
"The embroidery around these other magic circles can be done by others. The only magic circle you need to embroider is this one."
"Just one...? There are tons of them!"
Pointing with his finger at the ten individually drawn magic circles, I was utterly dismayed. Each one was so complex and fine that even one would be miserable, but embroidering ten of them before next winter was impossible. I simply didn't have the time.
"We already merged several magic circles during the improvement phase, so the number has been reduced. Besides, that Magical Tool requires that level of defense, doesn't it? It's the master's duty. Pull yourself together."
"Can't I dye it instead of embroidering!? If I dye it with Magic Power, the effect should be the same..."
I thought dyeing was still better than embroidery. The Chief Priest narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"Embroidery is the most reliable way to fix a magic circle into fabric. With dyeing, the dye bleeds and you can't draw fine patterns, and you need high Magic Power concentration ink, which wastes more Magic Power than making thread."
"...Then what about using a 'resist' like in yuzen dyeing, so the dye doesn't bleed?"
"Yuzen...? What is nori?"
"A resist agent, but..."
When I said yuzen, what came to mind was rice paste. But I didn't think rice paste could be made here. I'd need a substitute.
If rice paste wouldn't work, then... starch paste wouldn't either, right? Wait. Maybe yuzen wasn't the way to go! Let me think... what materials are readily available here? ...Ah!
Wax-resist dyeing might work!
Without letting anyone see the panic I was feeling inside, I smiled.
"The most straightforward and easiest to obtain would be wax."
"Wax, as in the wax used for candles at the Temple?"
In the castle, where there were many Attendants, Magical Tool lights were commonly used, so candles weren't used much. For me, candlelight was familiar from my Lower City days, but for the Chief Priest, it was apparently something used at the Temple.
"You heat and melt the wax, then draw lines with it. When it cools, the wax hardens, right? That wax prevents the dye from bleeding."
"Oh my, wax has such a use?"
Justus's eyes narrowed with delight. He seemed to guess it was knowledge from the Lower City, and his expression brightened with interest. At this rate, he might go hunting around the Lower City looking for other uses.
Crap! I need to spread this to the Gilberta Company as soon as possible!
"My embroidery skills are completely lacking, but I can manage Magic Power if I drink potions to recover. Let me dye it. I don't think I can finish the embroidery by winter."
I was busy with Temple duties and the printing business. I had no time for finicky embroidery work.
"Think of it as bridal training and do your best."
"...Let's call off the engagement. If I don't get married, I don't think I need to practice."
"You already know that's not an option, don't you? You idiot."
"I know. I was just saying."
"Just saying' can still cost you. Be careful with the words you speak."
As I answered "Yes," I picked up one of the sheets with a magic circle drawn on it.
"...Drawing it with a pen looks difficult too. I really don't think I can embroider it. Something so fine and complex—I can't imagine doing it. There must be dye available for dyeing with Magic Power, right?"
"Hmm, dye that properly retains Magic Power... Dyeing with blood might work."
The Chief Priest murmured something terrifying with a straight face. I remembered my Commoner days when blood was drawn for Contract Magic, and the blood drained from my face.
"I don't want something that scary and painful!"
"I was joking. Putting blood-dyed clothes on the royalty's Magical Tools wouldn't look good or reflect well, after all."
"When the Chief Priest says it, it doesn't sound like a joke at all."
"But dyeing with blood-equivalent Magic Power concentration would require a terrifying amount of Magic Power to create the ink."
"That's fine. It's still better than embroidery."
"It's impressive that you can say that so definitively, Lady Rozemyne," Angelica said.
Damuel let out a small groan, muttering that even compressing his Magic Power came nowhere close. The Chief Priest let Damuel's lament pass with a snort and began his alchemy lecture.
"Materials obtained from magical beasts and magical plants have elemental affinities. Green is the Water element, and the others match the gods' sacred colors. You know this, correct?"
"Yes. It's what we learn in first-year lectures, right?"
Green was Water, Blue was Fire, Yellow was Wind, Red was
"Correct. And the material properties also correspond to the gods."
"That's second-year material, right? I reviewed it to make reference books, so I remember it properly."
The Water element had effects such as healing, purification, and transformation. The Fire element had effects like attack, amplification, and growth. The Wind element provided defense, speed, and knowledge. The Earth element gave reception, endurance, and diffusion. Each produced effects similar to the respective gods' characteristics.
The Earth element could mix with any other element, and it served as a buffer when mixing elements that didn't get along well. The Life element basically repelled all other elements and was difficult to mix—these were written in the reference books.
Additionally, just as people could carry multiple elements, some materials possessed multiple elements, so when mixing elements that easily repelled each other, using materials that already contained both elements at the material stage made alchemy easier.
"Depending on the quality of the materials, the amount of Magic Power that can be stored during alchemy changes. To obtain high-quality materials, you need to harvest them from high-Magic Power magical beasts. You know this?"
"Yes."
I recalled fighting powerful magical beasts during the Leve creation and nodded. I knew that the magical stones obtained from weak beasts and those from powerful beasts differed enormously in quality.
"To fix your Magic Power in the ink we're about to create, we'll need materials of sufficient quality to properly accept your Magic Power. Since the ink will belong to a Magical Tool of the Goddess of Wisdom, the Wind element must be of the highest quality."
While saying this, the Chief Priest began rummaging through the wooden crates. It seemed the alchemy required was different from what had originally been planned for dyeing the thread. "You really never go according to plan," he complained, but it couldn't be helped. There was no way I could embroider all the magic circles.
"High-quality yellow materials from magical plants, with blue materials added to amplify the effects, and red materials to enhance resistance..."
Unfamiliar dried roots, bottles of liquid, and powders were lined up one after another. Even with them laid out, I had no idea which had which element or what function it served.
"Chief Priest, how do you determine the element of a materials?"
The creation of Magical Tools for the outfits has begun.
It's only just begun. Nothing has been accomplished yet.
Because Rozemyne threw a tantrum that she couldn't embroider.
The explanation of elements and material properties will come gradually, bit by bit.
Next up: making the ink. Let's get it done quickly.