The Dedication Ritual and Departure for Liesegang

Before I could finish the spring Baptism Ceremony, Wilfried had already departed for the Dedication Ritual with the Holy Cup and magic stones. Apparently he was busy because once the ritual ended, he had to head straight to Liesegang for final confirmation on the printing matters.

"I shall follow your example and use a tamed beast for travel, conducting the Dedication Ritual in both the morning and afternoon. I want to finish as quickly as possible and get to Liesegang."

"You're welcome to copy my approach, but did you remember to prepare recovery potions? Holding the Dedication Ritual twice in one day is quite taxing."

Since he'd be using magic stones infused with my magic, perhaps he wouldn't need to expend as much of his own. Still, two Dedication Rituals in a single day seemed like a lot. After hearing my words, Wilfried glanced at the Chief Priest, then slowly nodded.

"I've prepared them. I've learned how to make them myself now."

So the Chief Priest's kindness wasn't needed after all?

The taste was quite horrible, but the recovery potion he'd learned to make during lectures was completely different in effect. I decided to have my brother Lamprecht carry some of the Chief Priest's recovery potions as backup, and sent him off with a warning not to push himself too hard.

"Are you sure it'll be fine? I think two times in one day is really demanding."

"Compared to all the sites you rushed around to during your days as a blue Shrine Maiden Apprentice, it's nothing. Unlike you, he has both stamina and magic stones. There's no need to worry. Leave him be."

Wilfried handed over the Holy Cup to me, and I departed for the Dedication Ritual in my demesne.

The departure itself was an ordeal, all thanks to Hartmut and my brother Cornelius, who had wanted to accompany the ritual now that they were adults and could participate in tasks outside the city.

"You two are staying behind."

"Why?"

The main reasons were that as the High Priest, I was heading there for a religious ceremony and didn't need civil officials, that I had to prepare and bring along provisions myself, and that there was no room arranged for sleeping. Aside from the escort knights I was absolutely required to bring, all other retainers would stay behind. Hartmut glared resentfully at Cornelius, who was an escort knight, for a while, but then something seemed to click, and he suddenly clapped his hands together.

"Very well. While Lady Rozemyne is away, I'll learn the tax collector's duties so I can accompany you during the Harvest Festival."

"Huh?"

"Since we're short-staffed right now, if I learn the work and then appeal to my Aub that this is my earnest desire to accompany Lady Rozemyne, I believe he'd accept."

That really did sound like it could happen.

The personnel shortage meant that there were few people my adoptive father and the Chief Priest could safely attach to my side. Important work related to taxes had been firmly held by the old Veronica faction, so while the key positions had been reshuffled, not everyone could be replaced.

If Hartmut learned the tax collection work, I could practically see my adoptive father saying, "Perfect timing—go ahead."

Still, Hartmut was better than some completely unknown person, wasn't he? Though with Hartmut, a different kind of anxiety grew larger.

"Then Hartmut will stay behind to learn the tax collector's duties. As for Cornelius, who intended to come along, I'm sorry, but the escort knights will only be Damuel and Angelica. Please stay behind as well, Cornelius."

"Lady Rozemyne, why am I being removed from the escort duty when I've already come of age?"

My brother Cornelius scowled unpleasantly. But no matter how he looked at me, no meant no.

"Didn't I say that the commoners' winter lodge has very few rooms where nobles can be accommodated? That's the biggest reason."

Normally, blue priests don't parade around with a whole retinue of escort knights when going to perform rituals. The winter lodge usually has about three rooms reserved for blue priests, but it wasn't designed to accommodate numerous noble escort knights, so having too many was a problem.

Unlike Damuel, who could sleep in a servant's room if there was no blue priest accommodation, my brother Cornelius was a full-fledged upper-class noble. As a knight, he could handle his own daily needs, but for long stays, he'd probably ask whether he could bring his personal attendant along. He was that kind of sheltered young lord. Not suited for guarding in a demesne full of commoners.

"Besides, it's already been decided that the escort for Liesegang would be Cornelius, Leonore, and Angelica. Damuel for the demesne, Cornelius for Liesegang—what's the problem with that?"

Liesegang involved not just the Dedication Ritual but also printing work, so I'd be staying at the summer lodge there. For an upper-class noble's summer lodge, my brother Cornelius—being blood-related—was a better fit than Damuel. Bringing attendants was expected, accommodation was plentiful, and no one would complain.

"As you wish."

After all this back and forth, I finally managed to depart for the Dedication Ritual as usual. Stopping by Hassle as always, I confirmed from Richt, the town mayor, that the small temple and town were getting along without issues. Then I stayed at the small temple, heard reports from the grey priests, gradually exchanged personnel with the orphanage, and handed over the manuscripts to be printed next year.

"Supplies of paper and ink from the Brantaz Company have also arrived without issue. When the topic came up about what they do during winter at the small temple and I mentioned printing, several Hassle townspeople submitted a request to assist with printing as part of their winter work."

"I understand. When a formal request comes in from Richt, I'll consider it and give you a reply."

More printing help was welcome, but winter work carried the risk of blizzards trapping people who couldn't make it home. I'd need to think about how to handle that situation, the extra provisions for food, and wages, so I couldn't give an immediate answer.

"I'd like to increase literacy rates first, but would getting people accustomed to books through work actually help raise literacy?"

It might be time to seriously consider starting the temple classroom. However, I wanted to begin at the temple in Ehrenfest, which was close to the Lord, rather than in Hassle, which was farther away and harder to oversee. What kind of pretext would I need?

While worrying about this, I changed out of the High Priest's vestments into the outfit my mother had made from fabric she dyed herself, and had Turi's hair ornament put back on.

...I'm going to show Father.

After dinner, I made my way to the soldiers' table. They couldn't drink alcohol while on duty, but they were eating plenty of the dishes made by Ela and Hugo, chatting loudly and having a great time. The soldiers who came from Ehrenfest to serve as guards for the grey priests—and especially my brief exchanges with Father—were precious times for me. This was absolutely not something I could skip.

"It's been a while, everyone. If you would, please tell me about the state of the lower town lately. The information coming in from the Gutenberg and what the soldiers who patrol every corner of the city see are quite different things."

As I called out to the soldiers' table, voices began to rise as if they'd been waiting for exactly that.

"High Priest, the squad leader's wife is actually a Renaissance!"

"Right in the middle of winter, there was a huge commotion when she was chosen as a Renaissance exclusive to the High Priest. Did you know?"

"My, what a strange coincidence!"

It wasn't strange at all. I had specifically requested a Renaissance while watching Turi's reaction. Even so, I put on a surprised expression.

After that—Father must have spread the word—the soldiers started chattering about when Mother was chosen as a Renaissance. They went into detail about how she'd been one of three candidates, failed to earn the Renaissance title, then worked incredibly hard to obtain it.

"The squad leader was absolutely furious when the High Priest didn't grant the title. All of us soldiers wished he'd be chosen as a Renaissance next time. Thank you so much for selecting the squad leader's wife as a Renaissance."

"You lot talk too much nonsense!"

Father said that, but he was grinning happily, looking at me.

"High Priest, my wife Effa worked very hard. She wanted you to wear clothes made from fabric she dyed herself. She consulted with our daughter, who makes hair ornaments exclusively for you, about what kind of fabric would suit you, and was always deep in thought about it."

Father's words brought to mind an image of Mother and Turi together, brainstorming dyeing designs. I relaxed my expression slightly and pinched a bit of the skirt to show them.

"This is a new outfit tailored with new fabric. It uses Effa's cloth."

The soldiers let out a collective "Ohhh," and their eyes went round. "The High Priest is really wearing it!" they marveled. They probably thought Father's stories were heavily exaggerated. Father's family pride tended to be suffocating and run away with itself, his boasting growing more and more extravagant. Even that felt nostalgic.

"The squad leader's daughter is also the High Priest's exclusive, right? Does the High Priest know her personally?"

"Yes, I always wear Turi's hair ornaments. Today's piece is also Turi's work."

I touched my hair ornament. Father beamed with delight and launched into bragging to the surrounding soldiers about Mother, who was challenging Ehrenfest's new dyeing techniques, and Turi, who made hair ornaments worthy of royalty. It was definitely a bit over the top.

"We've heard the squad leader's family bragging a million times! Did you get drunk on fruit juice or something?"

The surrounding soldiers made exasperated faces as if to say they heard this all the time, but Father showed no sign of learning and said, "Well then, let me tell you about my son."

"We've heard that too!"

"Oh, I'm actually a bit interested. What are the children in the lower town like? How do they differ from the children in the orphanage?"

"Lower-town kids don't have the manners of orphanage kids. They do whatever they please."

When one soldier waved his hand lightly to say that, the others nodded in agreement. The orphanage children heading into the forest listened well to the adults in charge, walked in orderly lines, and always greeted the gate-guarding soldiers. They tried to speak in lower-town dialect, but when caught off guard, polite language came out.

"Lower-town kids don't treat the gate guards that politely. Some of them even play pranks because they think the guard is just a friend's dad."

As the soldiers traded childhood memories or started talking about what their own children were up to, Father told me that Kamyl had started gathering in the forest and that through Lutz, he'd begun interacting with the orphanage children.

"My son said that children the same age in the orphanage knew all about gods and knights."

...Wait a second. The orphanage children the same age would only be Dirk and Conrad!

Finding that thin thread connecting to Kamyl, I felt truly happy. Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered a report from Wilma saying that Conrad had been positively influenced by the lower-town children. I'd have to ask about that in more detail.

Just as I was thinking this, the seventh bell rang. Since it was chiming in Hassle's winter lodge, it sounded fainter and more distant than when heard from the temple.

"It is time for bed, Lady Rozemyne."

I nodded at Fran's quiet words from behind me and took my leave.

"It's a shame, but I must withdraw now. This summer too, many merchants will be coming from other territories. I know it's hard for all you soldiers as well, but please continue your efforts in protecting Ehrenfest's peace. Good night."

After completing the Dedication Ritual in my demesne—which had yielded a wonderful harvest—it was time for Charlotte to take over.

"Charlotte's tamed beast is Weiss. It's white with a gold magic stone on its forehead."

"Everyone else has pointed it out too, but the schmils that left the deepest impression on me were Schwartz and Weiss."

"They're cute, so I think that's fine."

"I want to be able to change their size freely like you do, Big Sister, but it's not going very well."

Charlotte looked at my Lessus. Since she thought all riding-type tamed beasts could be freely resized, it was apparently difficult—requiring extra time and magic—but she could manage a modest degree of resizing.

"You just have to practice until you get used to it. Until then, be careful not to let go of your recovery potion, and restore your magic immediately when it gets low."

"I understand, Big Sister."

After seeing Charlotte off for her Dedication Ritual, I prepared for my departure to Liesegang while waiting for Wilfried's report from his final inspection there, adjusting my condition as needed.

The escort knights were decided: my brother Cornelius, Leonore, and Angelica. The attendants were Ottilie and Brünhilde.

The problem was the civil officials. Since we'd be discussing printing matters, I ideally wanted to bring everyone. But Philine was a lower noble, and Roderich was from the old Veronica faction. They might have an unpleasant time.

"It might become a place with many unpleasant things for Roderich and Philine. You could stay behind on standby at the dormitory, but what would you like to do?"

"I will come. Printing is something I cannot avoid as Lady Rozemyne's retainer."

Philine answered immediately and decisively. Roderich also agreed with Philine's answer.

"Philine is right. I cannot afford to miss opportunities related to printing. I still haven't been able to properly fulfill my duties as Lady Rozemyne's retainer, so I'm not in a position to worry about a little discomfort."

Roderich had been commuting to the temple almost every day, competing with Philine, taking on work assigned by the Chief Priest only to be told "redo it"—he was in the same state Philine had been in the year before. While Philine consoled the discouraged Roderich with "Everyone goes through this, so don't worry about it," Angelica declared with a straight face, "I have never gone through it and never will. That's why I'll never give up my escort duty to anyone." Meanwhile, Hartmut piled on further, saying, "I could do it from the very beginning, so I've never had to struggle like that." The two of them were hopeless. Recently, Damuel had taken to chasing Hartmut and Angelica away before they could say anything unhelpful when he saw Roderich struggling.

By the time Charlotte returned, we had received a detailed schedule from Mother, the person with final responsibility. I immediately sent the date to the Gutenberg, who would no doubt have preparations underway.

"It'll be another long trip, but I appreciate your cooperation."

On the day of departure, the Gutenberg arrived with lots of work tools. I checked for luggage tags and loaded them one by one into the Lessus. Grey priests heading for the papermaking workshop helped with the loading while worrying about their unfamiliar clothes, following Gil's instructions. Fran and Monica loaded the items needed for the Dedication Ritual so the ceremony could be conducted in Liesegang.

"Zack, thank you so much for developing the mattress. It's so comfortable that I dread getting out of bed. The Chief Priest's long sofa must be difficult too, but please take care of it."

"Leave it to us. Everyone in our workshop is fired up about the Chief Priest's order—they're saying, 'We'll absolutely make something great!'"

Zack said, "Thank you for the introduction." Not just through my Gutenberg connections, but now that orders from the Chief Priest—the Lord's brother, who had previously placed none—were increasing, Zack's workshop was buzzing with ambition to become the exclusive supplier to the Lord's family.

"The Blacksmith Guild is requesting registration similar to the pump, but please let us keep it exclusive for the rest of this year."

"I think it would be wise to release the blueprints and prepare craftsmen who can make them before the orders pile up too much for you to handle. But as for me, I have no problem with transferring the blueprints to the Blacksmith Guild whenever that happens."

I accepted Zack's words. I had placed the orders and provided the ideas, but it was the people in Zack's workshop who had actually designed, trial-and-errored, and brought everything to fruition. If the blueprints were transferred to the Blacksmith Guild, I planned to receive a small fee for the idea, but the timing didn't matter.

"I'm grateful. Since Lady Rozemyne keeps ordering one new thing after another, I don't think we can maintain exclusivity for very long anyway. Also, leaving the work in their hands during my long absence for business trips has helped my apprentices' skills improve faster, it seems."

Zack said this with a wry smile. He was constantly piling on work and then leaving on trips, and during his absence, the apprentices' abilities had apparently grown. Johann, who had overheard this, shrugged.

"It's the same at our workshop. When we're out on Gutenberg business trips, we have no choice but to entrust the work to them."

"How are your apprentices? Was it Danilo?"

"Danilo's skills have been improving rapidly. Having that young craftsman from Gresshel come for training really helped."

Within the workshop, they'd been flattering Johann, saying Danilo was the only one who could succeed him, and Danilo had apparently gotten a bit cocky. Even when Johann mentioned that a Haldenzel craftsman could now make about half the metal type, he hadn't really believed it. But after Johann took in promising craftsmen from Gresshel and trained them, Danilo saw with his own eyes that there really were craftsmen who could make metal type at the same level as him. That sobered him up and he approached his work with renewed focus.

"The bookshelf pulleys ordered from Ingo—the samples are finally complete. I've set the mass production as Danilo and the others' assignment, so I think they'll be done by the time we return."

Making perfectly smooth, quiet-running circles and ensuring the strength to support a bookshelf full of books had apparently been very challenging. I was looking forward to the finished bookshelves and really hoped they'd do their best.

I loaded the temple attendants and the Gutenberg onto the Lessus, with Juditte in the passenger seat, and headed first to the gathering point at the castle. The Chief Priest was also leaving the temple today to assemble at the castle, but his destination was different. He was heading to Haldenzel with his civil officials to inspect the magic circle.

"I hope you make some new discoveries."

"Seeing the magic circle alone is more than enough."

A faint smile played at the Chief Priest's lips. He looked like he was enjoying himself, which was all I could ask for.

Waiting at the castle for our arrival were those who had finished their preparations: the Haldenzel civil official team and the Liesegang printing team.

Those heading to Liesegang included not only the civil officials but also the retainers of Wilfried and Charlotte. This was to let Liesegang know that I wasn't the only one involved in the printing business.

"Rozemyne, are you ready?"

I knew Mother—the person with final responsibility—was heading to Liesegang, but standing beside her were Father and about five knights.

"The lord candidates are all moving together. It's the same as when we went to Haldenzel."

"For Karstedt, Liesegang is also his mother's homeland, isn't it? He'd be a fitting choice?"

My adoptive father grinned as he said this, then looked at Wilfried with a slightly worried expression.

"Rozemyne, Liesegang is an untrustworthy land for the two of them who carry Ahrensbach blood. But if Wilfried is to become the next Lord, they're not an opponent he can afford to avoid. Whether he can bring that place to his side will make a huge difference going forward."

He said there probably wouldn't be physical harm, but mentally it would be quite tough.

"I'll do my best to stand in the line of fire for both of them. Brother Wilfried and Charlotte have been shielding me in all sorts of ways during the winter social season, after all."

"I'm counting on you. I don't know who he takes after, but Wilfried is so optimistic it makes me anxious."

At Father's words, I turned my gaze toward Wilfried, who was talking with the Chief Priest.

"Wilfried, whatever you do, don't let your guard down."

"When I went for the final inspection, there was nothing to worry about. It ended very smoothly."

Wilfried had returned from the final inspection of Liesegang and said this proudly. The Chief Priest crushed that confidence with cold words.

"If the final inspection ends smoothly, that means there are no deficiencies at Liesegang. They would never show any shortcomings to you. Most importantly, if the inspection isn't completed, there's no reason for them to eagerly await Rozemyne's visit to Liesegang."

Even though Wilfried fell silent, the Chief Priest didn't stop.

"Liesegang is a land where many strongly believe Rozemyne should be the next Lord. Through her blood-related retainers, they've been told that Rozemyne herself has no intention of becoming Lord, and that you wish to marry her and support her. But some haven't given up yet. To you, it's practically enemy territory. Burn that into your mind and exercise utmost caution in your words and actions. Understood?"

"...Yes, Uncle."

As I watched Wilfried looking down, biting his lip in frustration, Father quietly let out a breath.

"Support him, Rozemyne."

At Father's words, I went over to Wilfried.

"Brother Wilfried, Lord Ferdinand's words are harsh, but that's because he's worried about you. If he weren't worried, he wouldn't say anything at all."

My words made Wilfried look skeptical. I understood his feelings, but the Chief Priest's words were genuinely those of someone who was very worried.

"Perhaps you'll understand once we get to Liesegang. I've also been told to be very careful, and to protect Brother Wilfried and stand in the line of fire in Liesegang."

"So you'll stand in the line of fire, huh."

He had a great-grandfather who despised the Veronica bloodline. He needed to stay sharp.

"Rozemyne, do you think I'll be all right?"

To reassure the anxious Wilfried, I thumped my chest and answered.

"I'll be with you, so of course you'll be all right."

"...Somehow that made me even more nervous."

After saying that with his lips pouted, Wilfried put on his usual smile.

It was the Dedication Ritual.

The exchange with the lower-town group was the foundation.

I felt like I was thinking, "Father, it's been so long!"

Next up was Liesegang.