"I, too, have been granted permission to participate this time, Lady
"Thank you for the wooden plaque. And I'm glad to hear your participation has been approved."
The dedication ceremony held at the
This time, it was decided that the dedication ceremony would be held during the Lord's Conference, but the invitations had been sent to each territory's Aub and their retainers—there were no invitations for the teachers. Hirschur had been grumbling about "Are the teachers being excluded again?" so I asked my adoptive father to send an ordonnanz to the royals requesting that invitations also be sent to any teachers who wished to attend.
...The more participants, the better, after all. The royals were delighted too.
"That said, the recovery potions are being provided by us this time, aren't they?
So
"The royals appear to be aiming to make the ceremony a regular fixture at the Lord's Conference, but simply reacquiring Blessings might leave some people dissatisfied."
"Oh, is that so?"
"It's good that they can retry about once every ten years, but the change in how Magic Power feels only really kicks in after you've received numerous Blessings. You have to keep offering Magic Power before you can retry the ceremony, but the territories that happen to be first in line will hardly gain any Blessings at that point, will they?"
Hirschur had a point. Gaining Blessings depends heavily on the amount of Magic Power offered and on daily conduct that catches the gods' attention, so you can't just go about your life casually and expect Blessings to increase easily.
I thought my retainers—who had come to the
"The territories stuck with the disadvantageous early slots would be the losing ones. They're already short on Magic Power, and they'd hardly gain any Blessings from the first reacquisition. Then they'd need to go through more than ten years of the Dedication Ritual squeezing them dry before they'd even feel any effects. If you think long-term, it creates a gap, so they can't exactly skip it. But when you consider what an incredibly grueling ten years it will be, dissatisfied territories are bound to emerge. So, Lady Rozemyne—would you distribute recovery potions to divert that dissatisfaction?"
At Hirschur's suggestion, I gave it some thought. She was right that immediate benefits might help divert dissatisfaction. But that was something Hirschur should propose to the royals and something the royals should handle—Ehrenfest and I shouldn't have to take that on.
"...If you think the dissatisfaction needs to be diverted, I'd recommend proposing it to the royals and having the centrally-affiliated professors work together to produce recovery potions. Surely one or two of them have recipes for high-efficacy recovery potions?"
I smiled sweetly and refused, as if to say this isn't Ehrenfest's burden to shoulder, and Hirschur shrugged with a bored look.
"You expect me to cut into my research time to make recovery potions? ...There's no benefit in making them for the losing territories."
"I wholeheartedly agree. I can't afford to cut into my precious reading time for something with no return either."
I declared to Hirschur that the royals were the hosts this time, so we wouldn't be acting on our own, and she let out a soft laugh.
"Even if you say that, I can see right through you thinking about what you could do to help resolve the dissatisfaction, Lady Rozemyne. You're the type who'll do things that offer no personal gain at first glance. ...The Royal Academy's lectures are set for some major changes as well—that was your input, wasn't it? Be aware that your opinions are moving the royals. You'll be dragged in whether you like it or not."
Hirschur warned me, but it was already too late. Being drawn in had already been decided behind the scenes. But from the way Hirschur phrased it, it didn't seem like the news of me becoming the King's adopted daughter had spread yet.
"What changes are happening to the Royal Academy's lectures?"
"The royals proposed that it would be better to compress Magic Power and obtain Blessings before receiving a Stappe. It was a proposal to return to obtaining them in the graduation year, but the opinion that it's better to practice at the Royal Academy rather than learning Stappe handling through practical work in each territory won out overwhelmingly. After extensive deliberation, Stappe acquisition was moved back to the third year."
Having students receive their Stappes early made lecturing easier as a teacher, so apparently no one had previously objected to first-year acquisition. It was late in the Lord's Conference when this request came up so suddenly that Hirschur had suspected my involvement.
...Damn it, annoying as it is, she was right!
"In conjunction with that, the teachers have received instructions to revert the first and second year lectures to the old format. Professor Gundolf and the others will be leading the preparations, which need to be completed by this winter."
The teachers had protested that the curriculum couldn't be changed that easily, but they were shown the precedent of Frauerlum easily incorporating the old educational scope into her lectures when we were second years, and couldn't refuse.
...Huh, Frauerlum's runaway enthusiasm actually came in handy for the royals this time.
"Furthermore, there was also an inquiry about whether the dedication ceremony could be incorporated into the Royal Academy's curriculum. The reasoning was that while many territories still find it difficult to visit the Temple, it's important for students to begin praying—competing with those around them to gain Blessings—as early as possible."
However, this was apparently rejected since the teaching staff had absolutely no know-how. It was decided that Ehrenfest and
"So, once this year's Royal Academy term begins, I expect there will be a proposal about the joint research. I've heard that Klassenberg will assist with this dedication ceremony's preparations in exchange for information from the royals on how to prepare and how the ceremony flows."
...The royals and Klassenberg both work fast. Ehrenfest doesn't seem to have received any particular request, though. I'd only gotten a report today that someone had come with a trial set of the Holy Book picture books being released in summer for promotional purposes.
That's when it hit me. Come to think of it, if Klassenberg was shouldering all the preparations, I had said before that conducting the ceremony was no trouble at all. When I explained my conversation with the Aub of Klassenberg, Hirschur nodded in understanding.
"Ah, I see. So that discussion had already taken place. The idea was that since the ceremony would eventually become part of the curriculum, having them prepare their own recovery potions would significantly lighten Klassenberg's burden."
...Preparing recovery potions is actually quite demanding, you know.
Making them was of course laborious, but the hardest part was gathering the materials. The old Ehrenfest gathering grounds didn't yield enough materials. I doubted the other territories' gathering grounds had many more, even now.
"Klassenberg was quite puzzled about how easily Ehrenfest prepared recovery potions."
...All they'd need to do is restore their own gathering grounds, but they don't even know the prayer words for that.
Hmm, I thought, and just then
"Lieseleta, over here."
Hirschur beckoned Lieseleta, who had been waiting against the wall until our conversation ended, with a beaming smile and accepted the box.
"Well then, I'll be returning to my research room now that I've given you the memo of materials you need, Lady Rozemyne."
"A-ah, Professor Hirschur. I still had some questions I wanted to ask..."
"Good day, Lady Rozemyne. I imagine the next time we meet will be at the Lord's Conference's dedication ceremony."
Despite our conversation not being finished, Hirschur hugged the food box, spun on her heel, and hurried off. Lieseleta's shoulders slumped as she watched me standing there, stunned.
"...I'm terribly sorry, Lady Rozemyne. I never imagined Professor Hirschur would leave in the middle of a conversation. I should have prepared more slowly."
"Professor Hirschur is a Royal Academy teacher, but she's the furthest thing from the noble standard they teach there."
I comforted Lieseleta, saying there was no use fretting over someone whose actions couldn't be predicted. I hadn't expected to be cut off mid-conversation and have someone turn their back on me either. That woman was far too free-spirited.
"Thank you for consoling me, Lady Rozemyne. But despite having interacted with Professor Hirschur for years now, I failed to predict her behavior—proof of my inadequacy as an Attendant. It was such a valuable opportunity to gain information, too..."
...I understand how she feels, but it's impossible to read Hirschur's actions since they're so far removed from noble standards. Attendants aren't mind readers, after all.
And so, working on the modern-language translations in the underground archive, coordinating with the royals about the dedication ceremony through
I finished breakfast, purified myself, had the High Priest's ceremonial garments put on me, and headed to the designated waiting room with my retainers in Blue Robes, arriving well before the dedication ceremony's start time.
...Oh boy, it's
The moment I entered the waiting room and Immanuel greeted me with "We've been expecting you," I recalled how he had been waiting in ambush after the Star-Binding Ceremony. I wanted to put some distance between myself and the vaguely unsettling Immanuel, and
When I looked up at Cornelius, he gave me a reassuring smile, then hardened his expression, stepped forward decisively, and stood alongside Hartmut. The two exchanged greetings with Immanuel while radiating cold stares, and I sat down in the prepared chair.
"I'm very much looking forward to welcoming you as the High Priest of the Central Temple in the near future, Lady Rozemyne."
"As I've said before, Lady Rozemyne is an archduke candidate of Ehrenfest and has absolutely no intention of becoming the High Priest of the Central Temple. This dedication ceremony was carried out solely at the royals' request."
Hartmut said this with a cold smile that practically screamed "Get it through your head," and Immanuel returned the icy smile in kind.
"As soon as today's ceremony concludes, the royals will likely direct their demands to Ehrenfest—to take Lady Rozemyne as the High Priest of the Central Temple. I understand there are ways to transfer archduke candidates to the capital."
Immanuel smiled as he said that Ehrenfest couldn't refuse the royals' orders, and Hartmut looked at him with mild surprise before letting out a provocative laugh.
"Oh my, don't you know, Priest of the Central Temple? Archduke candidates can only transfer to the capital through marriage. And a married person cannot become the High Priest. So even if a transfer were to happen, there is no way Lady Rozemyne could enter the Central Temple. ...Ah, perhaps the royals are considering not the Central Temple, but absorbing Lady Rozemyne into their own ranks."
Immanuel, who hadn't even known that archduke candidates couldn't be transferred until
...There was the option of dissolving my adoption into Ehrenfest, after all, and there had actually been talk from the royals about whether I could enter the Central Temple. So the Central Temple had presumably thought they had a reasonable chance.
But midway through the Lord's Conference, I had become the next Zent candidate closest to the
...My standing changed all at once during the Lord's Conference, after all.
"Immanuel, please go to the lecture hall. You'll need to explain the nobles' entrance and lineup, won't you?"
I found Immanuel's standoff with Hartmut irritating, so I gave a casual wave of dismissal. But instead of leaving, Immanuel began listing his grievances about the ceremony.
"Lady Rozemyne, the dedication ceremony is a rite performed facing the altar. Please reconsider having the nobles arranged in a circle and convey that to the royals."
Immanuel was strongly opposed to the format of the dedication ceremony, where the Holy Cup would be placed at the center and the nobles would surround it in a donut shape. But apparently, no matter how much he'd complained to the royals, they wouldn't listen.
This dedication ceremony was about collecting Magic Power in the Holy Cup for our own use, not offering it to the gods. We couldn't face the altar. If we performed the dedication ceremony facing the altar, Magic Power would flow into every divine instrument lined up there.
"If Magic Power flows into the other divine instruments, that would help the Central Temple all the more."
"I have no intention of helping the Central Temple in a magical sense. Aren't the declining harvests in each territory year after year a result of sending Magic Power-rich Blue Priests and Blue Shrine Maidens to the Central Temple? If anything, I wish the Central Temple would help the Temples of each territory."
After the civil unrest, the return of apprentice-level individuals with abundant Magic Power to noble society was a major factor, but the consolidation of personnel in the Central Temple had been a devastating blow to the Temples of smaller territories. One need only look at the Blue Priests remaining in Ehrenfest's Temple to see that.
"...Given all of that, if you're still requesting that each territory hand over the Magic Power gained today to the Central Temple, then I suggest you take it up with the royals in the lecture hall. The host today is the royals. Not me."
I waved my hand again to request his departure, and Hartmut and
"Are you alright, Lady Rozemyne? You already look tired."
Immanuel's eyes had that slightly unfocused, fanatic fervor that I found deeply unsettling. It was nauseating. Just facing him felt like my energy was being drained away.
"Thank you, Leonore. I'm a little sleep-deprived from having so many things to think about. It's nothing that would prevent me from performing the dedication ceremony, but I simply don't have the energy to deal with Immanuel."
I hadn't yet told my retainers about becoming the King's adopted daughter. Thinking about what awaited me after returning to Ehrenfest, I sighed. I'd need to discuss the broken engagement with Wilfried, deliberate on who would become the next Aub, confirm my retainers' positions, conduct successor education for
...And I'd need to write that disappearing-ink letter to Ferdinand. About how I'd successfully avoided collateral punishment and secured the hidden room, about how I'd ended up protecting all of
"Lady Rozemyne, the nobles have all entered. The explanation of the rites has also concluded. Today's ceremony is at the Central Temple, so allow me to accompany you as Chief Priest."
While I'd been staring into space thinking about the future, it seemed the ceremony's time had arrived. Immanuel, who had come to summon me, extended his hand. The next instant, Hartmut deflected Immanuel's offered hand with a smile.
"I think that's reckless regardless. A Blue Priest who isn't even a noble cannot possibly offer Magic Power at the center alongside archduke candidates and Aub. If swept up in the current, one's Magic Power would be depleted, and in the worst case, it would be fatal. Wouldn't it still be dangerous on the perimeter?"
Hartmut carefully wiped the hand he'd used to deflect Immanuel, then extended his own hand to me, saying, "I wouldn't particularly care if you were to die, but Lady Rozemyne would be troubled." I compared Hartmut and Immanuel, then offered my hand to Hartmut.
"You really can't die during the ceremony.
"Understood."
"All other escort knights, please abstain from the ceremony and focus on your guard duties."
"Yes, ma'am!"
I made my way to the lecture hall, surrounded by my retainers. I could sense Angelica behind me, being extremely vigilant of Immanuel's movements.
"High Priest, entering."
As I stepped inside to the sound of bells, the nobles kneeling in a donut formation on the red cloth all turned their faces toward me at once. Just as Immanuel had complained, they were facing the Holy Cup placed at the center, not the altar—just like the Royal Academy's dedication ceremony.
...It's kind of like a pie chart.
Since the nobles were wearing their respective territory mantles, it looked like a pie chart showing proportions. As expected, the larger territories had more people while the smaller ones had fewer. It seemed the explanation had been thorough—the Aub couples were near the center, and the arrangement was such that Magic Power decreased toward the outer edges.
As I began walking through the gap in the donut of nobles, I heard Damuel's quiet voice stopping Immanuel at the perimeter: "Immanuel, this is as far as you go." I left Immanuel to Damuel and moved forward.
Glancing toward Ehrenfest's bright ochre-colored section, I spotted my adoptive father at the front. The adoptive mother, who should have been beside him, was absent due to her pregnancy. Father, as Knight Commander, and several knights stood guard outside the circle.
...Oh, central nobles are participating too.
I noticed a group wearing black mantles positioned between the red and blue ones. The royals, however, weren't participating in the ceremony, so they weren't among the crowd. They were probably officials and Attendants.
The royals stood slightly apart from the circle of nobles, lined up where there was no red cloth. Surrounding them, the Central Knights stood as guards, radiating intimidating stares.
When I reached the center of the circular arrangement of nobles, I saw two large Holy Cups and numerous smaller ones. There was no one in the Giebe role—as someone held that position, other royals besides the Zent managed the distribution of Magic Power to the estates and their surroundings like a Giebe, so collecting it wasn't terribly difficult, apparently.
I also confirmed that empty magic stones had been prepared inside the Holy Cups and gave a single nod. This should be enough.
"Aub Ehrenfest, and Rozemyne—on behalf of all the nobles gathered here, I thank you for responding to our urgent request."
I knelt with arms crossed in response to the Zent's words of gratitude, placing my hands on the red cloth spread on the floor. Hartmut knelt beside me, but the escort knights in their Blue Robes remained standing.
"I am one who offers prayers and gratitude to the gods who created this world."
"I am one who offers prayers and gratitude to the gods who created this world."
I waited for the others to repeat the phrase, then offered my prayer.
Just like at the Royal Academy's dedication ceremony, the initially unsynchronized voices gradually fell into unison. A wave of light formed on the red cloth beneath my hands and flowed into the Holy Cups—just as I'd seen before.
...Wait? Only the Holy Cup from the Royal Academy is glowing?
When performing rites with my own Stappe, a pillar of light would rise, but even using the Temple's divine instruments, no pillar of light appeared. That had been my experience up to now—but one of the Holy Cups began glowing red.
The Holy Cup shrouded in a wavering red light almost looked as if it were asserting that only it was the authentic article. And that red light flickered like flames, with tiny sparks of red light drifting gently upward like embers rising to the sky. It was a different phenomenon from a pillar of light rising—an entirely new and wondrous sight.
...Does it resemble the mysterious light I saw on Frui treehne night?
As I was captivated, I heard Damuel's voice: "This is as far as we go." I lifted my hands from the floor and slowly stood.
"Let's bring the ceremony to a close. Everyone, please remove your hands from the floor. Those with lower Magic Power should be reaching their limits soon."
For Damuel, a lower-ranking knight with roughly mid-noble-level Magic Power, this was his limit, but for nobles of the caliber participating in the Lord's Conference, none of them should have been completely depleted. Even a fairly weak recovery potion would restore them without issue.
The Aub who actually supplied Magic Power to the Foundation seemed nonchalant, and while the nobles participating in the ceremony for the first time showed signs of fatigue, none were as drained as those who'd experienced the Royal Academy's dedication ceremony.
...Looking ahead to the regular ceremonies, I didn't push them too hard and gave them a proper experience. Isn't that perfect?
Just as I was smiling with satisfaction at that thought, I noticed Blue Priests and Blue Shrine Maidens who had been participating from the perimeter collapsed and unconscious, and I quickly covered my mouth.
...I forgot about them. I mean, they perform rites all the time—they should know their own limits! Why are they collapsing?!
Though I was greatly surprised, I kept my composure as I surveyed the nobles and urged those who needed it to take their recovery potions. As a buzz of activity arose and everyone took their respective potions, I spoke about the dedication ceremony.
"This ceremony is originally held in winter. It serves to fill the small Holy Cups that will be handed to the Giebe during the spring Prayer Ceremony, and to saturate the Holy Cups that will moisten their direct territories. If nobles pray and offer Magic Power at their territory's Temples, the harvest yields will surely increase. And through offering prayers, nobles can receive Blessings from the gods."
I mentioned Wilfried's accumulated Blessings as a reference. The Zent, who had been listening to my explanation, nodded slowly and stated that to give students experience with the rites, the dedication ceremony would also be held at the Royal Academy this winter.
"As the Zent says, to obtain Blessings from the gods and to support Yurgenschmidt, it is necessary to perform this ceremony. However, recovery potions will inevitably be required, so it will be somewhat demanding for the students."
Several nobles raised their heads in reaction to my words. Many were from the losing territories.
"Will Ehrenfest be preparing recovery potions for the Royal Academy's dedication ceremony as well, as they did last year?"
"No. I'm sure a moment's thought will make this clear, but preparing enough for everyone at the Royal Academy is a burden even for a large territory like Klassenberg, and certainly for a mid-sized territory like Ehrenfest."
I cleanly cut away their hopeful gazes with a smile and a shake of my head. There was a strong possibility I would be gone in a year—I couldn't place such a role on Ehrenfest.
"However, I would like to teach you the prayer words for restoring gathering grounds, to make preparing recovery potions even slightly easier for all of you."
"...Gathering grounds?"
I nodded vigorously at the nobles who wore confused expressions. I would only be teaching them the prayer words. If they wanted to improve the quality of materials, they could restore the grounds themselves. I'd even kept the Magic Power extraction moderate in anticipation of this.
"The gathering grounds allocated to each territory at the Royal Academy have mysterious magical circles embedded in them. If you place your hands on the ground and, just as today, have all the nobles of a territory offer Magic Power while praying, you will be able to restore the gathering grounds and obtain high-quality materials. Recovery potions will become easier to make, and you'll be able to perform the ceremony yourselves."
I addressed the increasingly animated nobles and taught them the prayer words to Frui treehne that were used during the Prayer Ceremony. Some couldn't catch it in one go and asked me to repeat it, and as I recited the prayer words several times, I quietly channeled my own Magic Power into the Holy Cups that hadn't been fully filled.
"Green light is coming from the Holy Cup now...!"
"...Oh my. My apologies. I was reciting the prayer words and nearly performed a different ritual by mistake."
I hastily pulled my hands away from the Holy Cup and plastered on a composed smile. It had been a close call, but I'd managed to fill all the prepared Holy Cups, so I should easily secure the one-year reprieve I needed.
And so, I was able to conclude the Lord's Conference's dedication ceremony without incident.
Incidentally, before departing, I had the adults restore Ehrenfest's gathering grounds. With a large group working together, restoration was possible after all. I was somewhat relieved to confirm that even after I was gone, restoring the gathering grounds wouldn't be impossible.