"An awards ceremony will be held after this, so when the Fifth Bell rings, all students should proceed down to the arena."
Rufen used a Magical Tool to amplify his voice so it would carry over the buzzing audience, still excited from
"We should start tidying up."
Just like last year, a quick cleanup takes place during the short window before the Fifth Bell rings. The apprentice Attendants clear away the tea sets and sweets that had been served to the guests, while the apprentice civil officials put away the important Magical Tools they had brought out for the research presentations. While everyone busies themselves with the tidying, I get to rest in my chair for a bit. I'd been standing the entire time watching Ditter, and my feet were already aching.
...But I didn't feel unwell or anything. I really have gotten sturdier.
Clang, clang — when the Fifth Bell rings, everyone finishes their cleanup and begins descending to the arena for the awards ceremony. Capes of various colors fluttering as students descend one after another on their flying beasts is quite the spectacle.
"
Since students from all duchies would be descending to the arena at once, apparently things could devolve into confusion, minor arguments, or scuffles if not handled properly. When I asked them to guide everyone the same way as last year, Wilfried readily accepted.
"Mm. You sit over there with Father. An earful from Uncle awaits you afterward. You'll need the rest."
"Please frame that as a compliment! ...I'd like to be praised before the scolding, you know."
While I had steeled my resolve, the memory of being pinched on the cheek the moment we reunited was still fresh. If even Wilfried thought a scolding from
...Like shoving consommé soup into Father's mouth the instant he opens it to lecture me? Or maybe countering by launching into my own lecture alongside Scolding Schwimble? What do you think?
While I was deep in thought, my adoptive father poked my cheek lightly. When I looked up at him, he wore a slightly nostalgic expression, as if recalling something.
"There's no need to look so troubled,
"Father?"
"Just go up to the podium, accept His Majesty's praise, and that will be enough. If you take pride in that, even he cannot scold you. This is the first time you've been honored, after all — despite being the top performer three years running."
His words reminded me of how Ferdinand had once told me that achieving top marks was the only way to earn their father's praise. He'd said it was a rare opportunity to be praised by their father.
"You go overboard in many ways, but you've still been working hard. Just this once, you should be able to accept praise from Ferdinand without issue. He hasn't read the report, so he doesn't know the details of what you've done."
Father said the scolding could wait until we returned to Ehrenfest, but his thoughtfulness actually stung a little.
"Um, Father? I may have... written various things in my letters. Will that be all right?"
"Only the parts that would pass censorship, I'd imagine? As long as you don't volunteer any unnecessary information yourself, there shouldn't be a problem."
I didn't mention that I'd felt myself writing a flood of extra things on the back with invisible ink, but my silence seemed to tip my adoptive father off to something.
"Is that so. Then that's your own responsibility. Make sure you take the scolding properly."
"Auu..."
"Now then, go. When His Majesty speaks to you, simply accept it with 'I am greatly honored.' And whatever you do, do not say anything unnecessary. Don't do it. Understood?"
After being warned several more times, I was sent off by my adoptive father. Surrounded by my attendants, I descended to the arena on my flying beast. Being able to see at a glance where I needed to go based on the color of my cape — that was something I appreciated when viewing from above.
I descended to the arena and lined up with the rest of Ehrenfest. While chatting with Wilfried and Charlotte, who had already descended, about how "Hopefully Ehrenfest will produce many high achievers again this year," all the students must have assembled, because the royal family entered.
Surrounded by knights in black capes keeping watch, the royal family's flying beasts spread their great wings and landed one after another, ascending to the podium. The King and the First Wife. Then
...Looking at them like this, almost the entire royal family had come to the Dedication Ritual.
It was only the King's wives who hadn't attended — perhaps every member of the next generation had participated. Now that I thought about it, I might have caused an enormous fuss over the ceremony.
"In the winter when we face the strict selection of the Life God
The awards ceremony began with the King's opening words, the same as last year. The sound-amplifying Magical Tool carried his majestic voice across the arena. Was it my imagination, or did he sound more energetic than during the Dedication Ritual?
"Now, we shall present this year's Ditter awards. The top three representatives should step forward."
A man in a black cape — presumably a central noble — gave the explanation, and the top three were called.
"First place, Dunkelfelger."
Dunkelfelger, who had not only become capable of earning blessings on their own but also never neglected monster research, claimed a resounding first place. Their speed was beyond reproach, and the surrounding crowd had an air of "as expected of Dunkelfelger."
"Second place,
Klassenberg also seemed to possess extensive knowledge of monsters, attacking without any hesitation. They had years of accumulated knowledge, no doubt. On top of that, they were fortunate that the monster they faced wasn't a Grummock — something tenacious and difficult to defeat — so their takedown was extremely swift. I thought Klassenberg was lucky.
"Third place, Ehrenfest. All three, please step forward!"
The moment Ehrenfest was called, a murmur rippled through the arena. Ehrenfest, who had placed sixth in the mock battles, had secured third place. And in the entirety of Ehrenfest's history, they had never placed third in a territorial competition before.
"It must be because they knew the monster. The research from Ehrenfest and
"They must have requested Professor
Voices drifted from the front. Sneering laughter filled with malice spread through the murmuring air. At those heartless words,
As for me, I wanted to retort with "If we were skilled enough to orchestrate something like that, Ehrenfest would never be called poor at diplomacy. Ditter is about ability." But if the voices were coming from the front, the speakers were from an upper duchy. Should I swallow it, or should I speak up? While I was debating, another voice rose from a different duchy.
"How the monsters are assigned to each professor is decided at the last moment — there's no way such lobbying could happen. If your own apprentice knights were inadequate, belittling other duchies is hardly appropriate."
"Which monster you get is entirely up to luck. Last year, Ehrenfest faced a difficult magical beast too. Anyone with eyes can see Ehrenfest's true ability."
...Yes! That's exactly what I wanted to say!
The apprentice knights who had attended lectures together and watched the Ditter closely understood just how difficult it had been to defeat the Grummock. Apprentice knights from several duchies spoke up in support, and the critical voices quickly died down.
"...So there are those who understand after all."
When Leonore's lips broke into a small smile, the Ehrenfest apprentice knights nodded happily. Leonore and
...When I was in my first year, our coordination was full of gaps, and we put up a terrible fight against Dunkelfelger. Everyone really gave it their all.
The apprentice knights had worked hard, of course. They shared their shortcomings and studied together, overcame faction barriers to cooperate, and endured rigorous training. But we also couldn't forget the efforts of Grandfather and Father, who had prioritized training the guard knights of the lord's family. It was because they had trained us — recognizing the danger of declining knight ability due to changes in the curriculum — that we had grown stronger.
"You fought magnificently. Continue to improve, and I hope you will seriously consider joining the Central Knights."
The one praising the apprentice knights was Central Knight Commander Laubrute. They returned with a medal-like memento. It looked like a clear blue magic stone.
"This is the first time I've received a memento like this."
"Let's show it to Grandfather, who trained us all. He'll surely be delighted."
"Yes."
When the murmuring subsided, the next awards were for the civil officials' research presentations. These, too, were given to research that had the greatest impact and was judged excellent by the central nobility.
"First place: Dunkelfelger and Ehrenfest, for research into the relationship between rituals and blessings."
"Second place: Gilessenmaier, for a Magical Tool that amplifies Magic Power."
"Third place:
The representatives were told to step forward, and I was in a bind. I was the representative for both.
"Um, Wilfried — would it be all right if you stepped forward as the representative for Dunkelfelger's joint research? I have to go forward for the joint research with Ahrensbach."
"No, wait. You were the one who led Dunkelfelger's joint research too, weren't you? For first and third place, you should either prioritize first place and go over there, or attend both."
Wilfried told me it would feel like stealing his sister's achievement, so I reluctantly headed forward with Leonore, my guard knight.
"Shouldn't the Ehrenfest representative be Wilfried?"
"You're the one who conducted this research, Lady Rozemyne."
Dunkelfelger's representative was
"I never expected us to take first place, Lestilaut."
"...I did."
Lestilaut glanced at me, then sighed as he straightened his posture slightly. In that instant, the heavy mood vanished without a trace, and he assumed the bearing befitting a Dunkelfelger lord candidate.
"Rozemyne, you—"
"I never expected our research to take third place, did you? Right, Lady Rozemyne?"
"...Eh? Lady Dietlinde?"
The one who cut off Lestilaut's words was Dietlinde. I couldn't understand why she was stepping forward as the representative with such a radiant expression. Staring blankly, I searched for Reimunt behind Dietlinde. But Reimunt was nowhere to be seen.
"Um, wasn't Reimunt the representative for Ahrensbach? No one else seemed to be involved in the research at all..."
Dietlinde laughed off my question with a haughty "Ho ho ho."
"Reimunt refused to step forward. There was nothing I could do. Besides, this is my fiance's research, so there's no problem with me representing it."
Perhaps it was more that Dietlinde had bulldozed her way forward and Reimunt simply couldn't refuse.
Honestly! This was exactly the kind of moment where you needed to properly show your face and build reputation!
Indignant at Dietlinde stealing Reimunt's credit, I took my place beside Lestilaut.
"Lestilaut, you were saying something earlier, weren't you?"
"No, it's fine."
From the group of officials standing beside the royal family, an unfamiliar man stepped forward. Since the Knight Commander had been the one to address the apprentice knights earlier, he was probably the central civil official representative.
"First place: Dunkelfelger and Ehrenfest. In your research, a divine rite that had fallen into disuse was re-examined, and the conditions for obtaining blessings were clarified. The finding that Magic Power consumption changes depending on the number of blessings obtained was particularly fascinating. Given that members of the royal family participated as well, this can be considered extremely important research for the future of
Various aspects of the research that had impressed them were discussed. The most highly evaluated element was apparently the part about how Magic Power consumption varied based on the number of divine blessings received. They expressed hope that future students would continue the research so that many blessings could be obtained.
...But is there really that much research worth continuing?
"We hereby commemorate this. Continue to strive for the sake of Yurgenschmidt."
Unlike the Ditter medal that Leonore had received, this medal was a pale yellow magic stone. It had a solid, satisfying weight in my hand. I had Leonore hold it for me, and while the central civil official representative addressed the second-place Gilessenmaier, I repositioned myself beside Dietlinde.
"Third place: Ahrensbach and Ehrenfest. In your research, Magical Tools that previously required large amounts of Magic Power can now be operated with less. Compared to previous methods of reducing Magic Power consumption, this research has many superior aspects and great potential for application beyond the Magical Tools that were displayed. We hope you will continue working toward further improvements."
The central civil officials were placing great emphasis not on the Magical Tools themselves, but on the fundamental principle underlying Reimunt's research — the conservation of Magic Power. When I thought about it more carefully, every awarded research project was about conserving or amplifying Magic Power. It clearly showed how critically Magic Power was lacking in the current Yurgenschmidt and how important it was.
Carrying the two medals back, the next set of awards covered visitor reception and hospitality. Unfortunately, Ehrenfest didn't place in this one — the results followed the duchy rankings. Klassenberg took first, Dunkelfelger second, and Drewanchel third.
"I thought Ehrenfest had a really good showing this year, though..."
When I pouted after hearing the results,
"The issue with Ehrenfest is that we have few Attendants and lord candidates capable of handling guests. We inevitably keep visitors waiting, which lowers satisfaction. It's difficult for us to aim for the top in this area."
Despite having so many factors to attract guests — sweets, the latest trends, preliminary trade negotiations — we simply didn't have enough people. Apparently, you needed to be a large duchy with a large population to handle it all. "We can't suddenly increase the number of apprentice Attendants," Brunhilde said, and I could only accept that.
...Ehrenfest really does have few people for a medium duchy.
I'd have to start thinking about how to increase the noble population even slightly.
When the territorial competition awards concluded, it was finally time for the awards for the
"We will now announce this year's top-performing students. Those called should step forward."
Along with those words, the outstanding students were announced starting from the final year. The final year's top student was Drewanchel's senior civil official. Surprised that it wasn't a lord candidate, I then heard Lestilaut's name called as the top lord candidate — the same Lestilaut who should have been obsessed with drawing Ditter picture books.
...Lestilaut had grades good enough to be the top lord candidate. This was the first I knew of it.
If he'd buckled down more instead of getting lost in his drawings, maybe even the top student of the year wouldn't have been out of reach. While I was thinking this, Leonore and Alexis were called as outstanding students.
"Alexis, well done."
"Leonore, congratulations."
"It's all thanks to Lady Rozemyne."
Leonore and Alexis headed forward while receiving congratulations from everyone. As I watched them go, the fifth-year announcements began. The top student was called first, then the rest were called by duchy ranking.
"From Ehrenfest... Brunhilde,
"Brunhilde, Matthias — congratulations to you both."
Matthias had been selected as an outstanding student last year too, but this was Brunhilde's first time. Her amber eyes widened slightly in surprise before she smiled, her eyes glistening.
"...This is my first time being an outstanding student."
"Yes. Brunhilde, you worked so hard against the upper duchies. I'm happy that your efforts have been recognized."
"I'm honored, Lady Rozemyne."
Blushing slightly with pleasure, Brunhilde smiled. Her radiance had increased, and it was a truly beautiful smile.
"An outstanding student, huh..."
Hearing that murmur, I looked up at Matthias. Unlike Brunhilde, Matthias didn't look happy about being selected. Perhaps he'd been aiming higher — but for a middle-rank noble to be chosen as an outstanding student was extremely rare. I thought he should be happier about it.
"You should take pride in this with a bigger smile, Matthias. Your lord — that's me — is proud of you."
At my words, Matthias blinked several times, then knelt on the spot. Looking straight at me with his blue eyes, he took my hand and pressed it to his forehead.
"Eh? Matthias, what are you—"
"If you, Lady Rozemyne, had not thought to save us, this honor would never have been mine. I dedicate my honor and gratitude to my lord."
Please, stop! This gratitude is really bad for my heart! And it's so conspicuous! You're being incredibly conspicuous!
"I-I understand, so please hurry forward, Matthias. Everyone is waiting."
I quickly pulled my hand back and urged him forward. By the time Brunhilde, Matthias, and Natalie had gone up front, the fourth-year announcements were underway. Laurentz and Ignatz were called as outstanding students.
"May I also kneel and express my gratitude to Lady Rozemyne?"
Laurentz said this in a teasing tone, and I shot him a light glare before telling him to go on.
"I'll treat you to a double serving of meat at dinner, so please save the gratitude for a place with fewer people."
"As you wish."
Laurentz pressed a hand to his mouth to suppress a laugh, then headed forward with Ignatz, who had already received congratulations from Wilfried.
"Third-year top student: Ehrenfest's lord candidate, Rozemyne."
After that, I was called again as the top lord candidate and the top civil official. Hearing the same name called so many times drew "Ohhh" exclamations of admiration from those around me, along with a rising undercurrent of "Again?" The outstanding students continued to be called, and then the words "From Ehrenfest — Wilfried" rang out.
"Congratulations. This is your first awards ceremony, isn't it? Now then, Lady Rozemyne — step forward."
"Rozemyne, give me your hand."
Sent off with smiles by my attendants and escorted by Wilfried, I stepped forward. The whispered voices around me made it painfully clear just how much attention I was drawing.
"That's Ehrenfest's... The lord candidate who invited the royal family to the Dedication Ritual?"
"The lord candidate who's been absent from the awards ceremony two years running, isn't it?"
...I'm getting attention for all the wrong reasons!
What people were whispering about wasn't even my academic performance. Having these things said behind my back was starting to make me wish I'd skipped this year too.
"Stand up straight. From here on, you're on your own."
Wilfried stopped at the line where the outstanding students stood.
Released from Wilfried's hand, I tried to walk as elegantly as possible and slowly ascended to the podium. Once up there, I could clearly see that I was being watched from both above and below. Though the gazes felt heavy, I kept my spine straight and refused to let my head bow.
...Ugh. This is nerve-racking. Maybe I really should have skipped.
Walking past the row of royal family members, Eglantine gave me an encouraging smile. Drawing a little courage from that expression, I knelt before the King. The King's complexion as he looked down at me seemed much better than during the Dedication Ritual. His eyes gazing down at me were gentle, and the voice that addressed me was calm and kind.
"Ehrenfest's lord candidate, Rozemyne. You have achieved exceptionally excellent results for three consecutive years. In particular, this year you conducted joint research with Dunkelfelger, Drewanchel, and Ahrensbach, and through its results made significant contributions to Yurgenschmidt. Your efforts and contributions are worthy of commendation."
Perhaps because I was more often scolded for causing trouble than anything else, being told I had contributed, that I had been useful — by the King, no less — brought warmth welling up inside me. It didn't feel like diplomatic pleasantries; I could genuinely sense that he meant it.
...I'm really glad I was useful after all.
"It is a great honor to have been of service to the Zent."
Thunderous applause rang out, and I rose with the King's permission. When I turned around, I could see that not only the students lined up below but also the adults in the spectator seats were applauding. In Ehrenfest's section, my adoptive father, the knights, and the parents were all clapping.
Turning my gaze to the other side, I could spot bright yellowish-ochre capes amid Ahrensbach's wisteria purple. Looking more closely, I could see Ferdinand,
...Ah, Father and Ferdinand are both genuinely happy about this.
There were so many people who were happy to celebrate and praise my achievements at the Royal Academy. That was something I hadn't truly felt before. The joy outweighed my nervousness, warmth spread through my chest, and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness.
...Yeah, I'll keep working hard next year too.
It was an awards ceremony that naturally made you feel that way.
The first awards ceremony I was able to attend.
No scolding words — being praised and recognized in front so many people was probably a first.
What will happen when Rozemyne keeps striving next year?
This year, Ehrenfest achieved results in various ways at the Royal Academy.
Next, it's dinner in the tea room. Please praise me, Ferdinand.