"Welcome back, Lady
"I've just returned.
The two people standing at the front of the group that had come to greet me in the teleportation room were my guard knights. Damuel looked particularly exhausted—had Grandpa been putting him through training again?
"Angelica, Damuel. I'm entrusting Lady Rozemyne's protection to you both. I need to head back to the Noble Academy immediately."
"You can go back right away?"
Angelica tilted her head and looked behind her. Lined up in the background were the guardians who had come to welcome me back—the Lord and his wife, the Knight Commander and his wife, the Chief Priest, and Grandpa. Cornelius turned to look at them and let out a small groan.
"Now, now, Cornelius. You haven't finished your important talk yet, have you? Since you've gone to the trouble of coming back, don't rush off right away. Stay the night and relax."
The one who cut into the handover with those words was Mother. She stepped forward with her usual composure and a warm smile, but that smile was clearly meant to keep Cornelius from slipping away. He put on a strained grin and took a small step back, trying to escape her.
"Mother... As I told you the other day, lectures haven't ended yet. I'll come back as soon as they're done, and we can have our talk."
After rushing through the guard knight handover, Cornelius immediately turned and stepped back onto the teleportation circle. He looked like he wanted to say more, but Mother simply chuckled as she watched him return to the Noble Academy.
"You can't run away forever, you know. Next time, come back like a man and face things properly. ...And bring your partner."
Cornelius grimaced at Mother's words before his figure wavered and vanished. He'd said he was going back to the Noble Academy because it was his final year and he wanted to enjoy student life, but it seemed he'd really just been trying to escape Mother's interrogation.
"You said 'bring your partner'—does that mean you already know who she is?"
"We can talk about that at the tea party. There are plenty of things I want to ask about, too."
Mother said that with a smile, took a step back, and turned away. Gently nudged by Richanda, I greeted the other guardians lined up before me.
"I've just returned from the Noble Academy."
"I never expected you to finish lectures so soon, Rozemyne. My granddaughter is truly exceptional."
Grandpa praised me, and I was incredibly happy about it. But I'd finished lectures only because I was desperate to reach the library, so being praised like that left me flustered about how to respond. I couldn't exactly puff out my chest and say "I'm amazing," so in the end I humbly deflected with, "It's all thanks to
"Rozemyne, I'll be joining you for dinner tonight, so you can tell me about defeating the Ternisbefaren, can't you? According to your civil official's report, you performed wonderfully."
Besides, I hadn't done anything particularly impressive. Unfortunately, my attacks hadn't landed. I didn't want to tell Grandpa about that.
"Let me tell you about the apprentice knights' achievements instead. Everyone worked really hard. Thanks to the training you gave us, we were even able to coordinate a little."
For a split second, the idea of doing a pinky promise by saying "It's a deal!" popped into my head, but I immediately dismissed it—doing a pinky promise with Grandpa seemed like it would break my finger.
After finishing my conversation with Grandpa, the one who stepped forward was my adoptive father.
"I've been waiting for you, Rozemyne. Go change, then come to my office."
His voice lacked force. Last year he'd been glaring at me like an angry statue, but this year he just looked drained. Even his voice sounded tired.
...Did something happen?
After making tea party arrangements with Mother and my adoptive mother, I returned to my room with Richanda and my guard knights. After changing, I headed to my adoptive father's office.
Waiting inside were my adoptive father, my father, and the Chief Priest. Sermon time. The Chief Priest tapped his temple lightly while glaring at me, and he was the first to speak.
"Rozemyne, it seems we need to start by aligning our understanding of the word 'peace.' What does peace mean to you?"
I'd thought the sermon would start with some kind of scolding, so being met with this question blindsided me. But I seriously considered what peace meant to me.
"Being able to stay cooped up in the library and read every day. If it weren't for these summons, my life would be peaceful."
I'd just finished lectures and finally achieved the peaceful days I'd been longing for—being forcibly dragged back was just too cruel. I grumbled that they should give me back my library and reading time, and my adoptive father let out a deep sigh.
"It's not as though I wanted to call you back."
"Rozemyne, do you know why you were summoned?"
When Father asked, I rested my cheek in my hand and thought. The things I recognized as mistakes were: putting a hole in the tent with my water gun, freezing everyone at the book lovers' tea party, and losing consciousness at the tea party I was hosting. But no scolding letter had come about the water gun improvements.
"Since the summons came right after the Ternisbefaren battle, I'm thinking it might be because I went off on my own and collapsed. Is that it?"
"'Might be'? What is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not sure what exactly I did wrong. Compared to last year, I don't think I've done that much to get scolded for this year?"
When I tilted my head in confusion, all three guardians sighed in unison.
"First, the way you write reports. You can write proper reports about the printing industry and temple work, so why do your Noble Academy reports look like this? Let's start there. Your reports contained a great deal of unnecessary information."
The Chief Priest said this while lining up everyone's reports from the Noble Academy. That was when it finally clicked. I'd thought it would be pointless to write the same thing as Hartmut, so I'd deliberately written things he hadn't covered—but apparently that consideration wasn't needed. To add to that, I'd been writing my reports with the same feeling as class diaries and letters to parents from my
"Things I thought were important would be written about by the civil officials, so I figured there was no point in writing the same content. I thought you wanted to know about each of our lives at the Noble Academy, so I wrote about things that struck me on a personal level, almost like a diary. Please tell me what kind of reports you actually want."
"I see. So there's already a gap in perception from the very start. No wonder your reports were so emotional."
After the Chief Priest told me to treat grade improvement, trend-setting, and Library Committee activities as important initiatives on par with the printing business and to write reports accordingly, I finally understood what my guardians were looking for. If they needed reports on important Ehrenfest business, my previous reports clearly wouldn't cut it.
After that, I received various pointed remarks about my behavior. The biggest issues centered on the Library Committee. Promising to give
"But it's the Library Committee! What else am I supposed to do in the library if not work?"
"Looking at the reports, the work you've been asked to handle is Magic Power supply. Reminders are not your job."
When my adoptive father shut me down so firmly, I hung my head in acknowledgment.
...I'm sorry, Solange!
"Hmph, Solange said having Ferdinand handle the reminders greatly improved the book return rate, so I thought it would be perfect if a royal did it instead. I figured it was putting the right person in the right role."
"Whether something is the right person in the right role is not your judgment to make. It's perfectly fine for a royal to assign you tasks, but you must never assign tasks to a royal."
From the guardians' explanations, I came to understand that while I'd thought of Hildebrand as a fellow Library Committee member, his position and mine were about as different as a company president's son and a low-ranking employee. Having fellow committee members share work versus a low-ranking employee assigning tasks to the president's son who dropped by for fun were completely different things.
...No wonder everyone was stunned!
"Ohhhh!" I clutched my head and belatedly realized the full extent of what I'd done, then learned the crushing reality that I'd have to continue dealing with royals as a Library Committee member. I'd never had to navigate such a daunting relationship with someone of such vastly different status, even in my Myne days.
"So what should I do going forward? When Prince Hildebrand looked like he wanted to join in while Hannalore and I were discussing how to divide the work, I just ignored him until he offered to do it himself. Is that okay? He'd probably feel left out, but is that the correct way to interact with royals?"
I'd read his expression during the wristband incident too, but I wasn't sure if ignoring him had been the right call. My question made the Chief Priest look extremely troubled.
"You have a remarkable ability to read what the person across from you needs and desires from even a bit of conversation or a small gesture. That in itself isn't a bad thing—one could even call it a strength. But you give absolutely no consideration to the surrounding people's intentions or the circumstances surrounding the other person. That's what makes things so difficult for everyone around you."
He explained that whether it was royals or higher-ranking duchies, I'd get along fine one-on-one, but it would inevitably cause confusion and trouble for those around me.
"If you could learn to see the bigger picture as well, that ability would become a powerful weapon. But for now, it's nothing more than a dangerous wildcard with unpredictable consequences. Especially when royals are involved, it becomes impossible to predict what position Ehrenfest would end up in."
When he told me he wanted me to avoid getting involved with royals as much as possible, I subtly averted my gaze from the Chief Priest. I understood what the Chief Priest and my adoptive father were trying to say, but that was one promise I couldn't make. The Chief Priest noticed me looking away and furrowed his brow deeply.
"Don't look away, Rozemyne. What exactly are you planning?"
"I can't avoid interacting with Prince Hildebrand. I can't promise that."
"Why not?"
"I was invited to the
Solange the Librarian, my fellow bookworm Hannalore, and Hildebrand were the people I most wanted to get along with at the Noble Academy. They were people I wanted to proactively engage with. I wanted guidance on how to interact with them properly, but staying away entirely wasn't an option.
"The Royal Academy Library is off-limits."
My adoptive father said this with a stern expression.
"You collapsed just from hearing about it, didn't you? If you actually went, I can only predict that you'd collapse before entering, put on some spectacular blessing display, or trigger some unforeseen disaster. Until you've learned to exercise some restraint, we have no intention of granting you permission. As an unmarried minor, you cannot enter the royal palace without a guardian anyway."
"That's so cruel!"
I looked around at everyone, but every single guardian stared back at me with expressions that clearly said, "We will not be your chaperone." This was bad. The self-restraint I'd discarded long ago was suddenly needed again. But could I really exercise restraint in front of the Royal Academy Library? I had absolutely no confidence.
"The Royal Academy Library..."
They said they wouldn't grant permission until I learned restraint, but there was no way anyone could judge whether I'd actually achieved that. One way or another, they'd find a reason to keep me from going.
...I want to go to the Royal Academy Library.
"At the very least, we can't send you until you stop collapsing out of nowhere. This time you caused a great deal of distress to Prince Hildebrand and his attendants, didn't you?"
Father said something about whether I wanted to traumatize the people at the Royal Academy Library, and I slumped my shoulders. I didn't mean to traumatize anyone. I knew that collapsing in front of people was hard on their hearts, and I knew it caused everyone to scramble for damage control.
...Ugh, the Royal Academy Library feels so far away.
"As for your interactions with royals—you clearly don't understand the distance and difference in status well enough. Drill it into your head that you are never on equal footing. Now then, regarding the Ternisbefaren matter..."
Lined up on the desk were
...Hartmut's report is SO high-energy!
"The reports don't look like they're about the same incident at all. Tell us what happened and how it was resolved."
I supplemented Charlotte's report by explaining everything about the Ternisbefaren. I tried my best to keep Hartmut's report out of my line of sight. I could see the Chief Priest making additions to Charlotte's report as I spoke.
"Even so, that you could identify it as a Ternisbefaren from Roderich's account alone is impressive. That's an extremely rare magical beast found in Berestock. I was surprised that any student knew of it."
"Last year,
She'd said it was one of the creatures that wasn't expected to appear in Ditter, so she hadn't reported it to the other apprentice knights.
"I've read the same materials. ...I've also heard about it from the apprentice knights of Berestock."
The Chief Priest added that Berestock had been split between
I described the battle against the Ternisbefaren—how I'd gone to the battlefield to grant the blessing of the Darkness God, how I'd used the divine artifact's cloak since my attacks weren't landing, and how I'd restored the gathering ground.
"When Lueven arrived leading the Central Knights, he asked me several questions, but I was already in a daze by then and couldn't give proper answers. They're coordinating the date for the formal questioning, but Lady
"What did he ask, and how did you answer?"
I recounted Lueven's questions and my answers. The guardians all groaned and held their heads.
"My answers apparently weren't satisfactory, so I'll be called in again."
"That tracks."
"But there really isn't any other way to answer! As High Priest, I'd read the Holy Book and knew the prayers. As High Priest, I performed the temple's work of land regeneration. That's genuinely all there was to it. I'd be in a real bind if they pressed for more detail."
"During the questioning, you must insist that the spells knights use and your prayers are entirely different things."
"Huh?"
"Those are spells that are forbidden to be taught at the Noble Academy."
"Why? Wouldn't they be needed when creatures like the Ternisbefaren appear?"
"More dangerous than magical beasts are humans."
According to the Chief Priest, it had been a very long time since the spells involving black weapons were last taught at the Noble Academy. A lord had used black weapons to attack another duchy, which led to the prohibition—it was deemed unnecessary for everyone to know them.
Apparently, after a political upheaval similar to the current one, when magic power had been depleted over a wide area, a lord had invaded neighboring duchies using black weapons to steal their magic power and enrich his own territory. When a large duchy attacked a small one, there was no chance of resistance. Neighbors followed suit, further accelerating the chaos from the political upheaval, and everything spiraled into utter pandemonium.
After that, it was decided that the spells to create black weapons didn't need to be known by everyone. Only apprentice knights from territories where magical beasts requiring black weapons were known to appear were taught them.
"...But why didn't Cornelius know them either? They're essential for dealing with Trombe, aren't they?"
"Previously, they were spells you'd learn after entering the apprentice knight track and gaining the blessings of the gods at the Noble Academy. But now, they're only taught to knights who've been judged capable of being taken on expeditions."
Father sighed. It seemed the policy had been changed when new recruit training was reevaluated after
"With the increase in nobles who rose from Blue Priest ranks and the changes to the post-upheaval curriculum, the overall level of new recruits has dropped significantly. So they decided to only take along knights who could cooperate without causing problems. That's why the spells are only taught at the point when knights pass the in-house qualification exam."
Apprentice knights a year or two above Angelica's class knew the spells, but it seemed that by Angelica's year, they'd become unknown. Since today's new recruits still couldn't coordinate properly, it would be a while before they were taught.
"Are spells and prayers really different things?"
"They are. Prayers are too long to use on the battlefield. Since accidentally activating one could be disastrous, many modifications have been made."
The spells knights used were prayers with portions gradually cut away. Unlike chanting the full prayer, there was less room for improvisation in some areas, but speed and reduced chance of error were what mattered.
"Also, please give this to Ferdinand. It's a souvenir from Hartmut—a magic circle that appeared when I blessed the gathering ground that the Ternisbefaren had ravaged, in order to heal it."
I handed the Chief Priest the magic circle Hartmut had drawn. My adoptive father and father leaned in to look as well. But apparently just looking wasn't enough, as the two quickly looked away. The Chief Priest alone ran his finger along the circle.
"Rozemyne, did you pour Magic Power into this?"
"When I performed the ritual to restore the land, it appeared on its own. What kind of magic circle is it?"
"It's the magic circle needed to establish that area as a gathering ground. It's quite complex, with many elements packed into it."
The Chief Priest's mouth had relaxed slightly—he looked very pleased. If the Chief Priest was in a good mood, the sermon would lighten up, which made me happy too. Hoping to improve his mood even more, I leaned in to examine the circle with him and asked, "What kinds of elements does it contain?"
My adoptive father stopped the Chief Priest's magic circle lecture before it could even begin, frowning deeply with a complicated expression.
"Wait a moment, Rozemyne. Isn't land regeneration the Central
"Ehrenfest's students needed the land restored quickly or their lectures would be disrupted, so I did my best. If the retainers' lectures were delayed, it would affect my library visits too."
It might be the Central Temple's work, but I hadn't been in a position to wait around. At the same time, I wanted to make clear that I hadn't taken all of the Central Temple's work. The Ternisbefaren hadn't only ravaged the gathering ground—a wide area of the forest was damaged, so there was plenty of work left. No problem there.
"It's not a matter of just leaving work for them. Ehrenfest's students being saved is a fact, but—"
"With a magic circle this complex, fully activating it would require dozens of Blue Priests and Shrine Maidens from the Central Temple working for several days. It's impressive that you had enough Magic Power."
"I really didn't have enough! I was drinking Ferdinand's recovery potions the whole time. It felt like Magic Power was being drained as fast as I could recover—it was truly exhausting."
The Chief Priest murmured without looking away from the magic circle, "'Exhausting' hardly does it justice," but it was done.
"Hartmut's report said it was completely restored. Did you not bring back any materials from there?"
"No, I didn't bring any materials."
Magic circles aside, it hadn't even occurred to me to take materials—the materials at that gathering ground were meant for use in lectures.
"Have Hartmut send the materials from the restored area. I'd like to research what differences exist in materials grown with your Magic Power."
"You really are Hirschur's student, Ferdinand. All you can see is research. Hirschur came along with the Knight Commander too, but she tried to go straight back to her lab, saying that if the Ternisbefaren was defeated without serious injuries, that was good enough."
I said something about how maybe they could show a little more concern, and the Chief Priest's gaze lowered slightly.
"Ferdinand?"
"Every time I went into the deep forest to defeat magical beasts with the apprentice knights, Hirschur would come out worrying about me. It became such a hassle that I told her to stop worrying—after all, I'd handle the cleanup, and once the battle was over with no injuries, there was nothing to fret about."
"So it was Ferdinand's fault!"
These two had cultivated trust and familiarity in the most counterproductive direction. At this rate, Rhaimund was in danger. When I expressed concern for Rhaimund, all three guardians sighed in unison.
"Worry about yourself before worrying about Ahrensbach's students, Rozemyne."
...Ah, sorry.