We left the feint to
"...Something is off."
I had been thinking I didn't want to treat the gray priests too harshly—if there were gatekeepers, we would have had to detain them or force them to arrange an audience with the High Priest or Chief Priest—so their absence was somewhat of a relief. But it was far too quiet.
"Do they not keep gatekeepers at the Temple of
"I'm afraid I have no information about the interior of the Temple. During the Dedication Ritual, the priests brought the Holy Cup out to us, so we never actually set foot inside..."
"Our only option is to ask the people at this Temple about it. I'll take my name-sworn guard knights and go take care of what needs doing inside, and Justus and
"Please wait, Lady
Hartmut drew a wooden box from among the luggage toward himself and said with a bright smile.
"Hartmut, what are you talking about? There's no time, and if I don't go—"
"For you to enter a foreign Temple, a purification is required. As the former Chief Priest, I will handle it, so please wait in the riding beasts for a moment. As for the gagging, it's quite simple, so I was thinking of having
Hartmut hugged the wooden box and spoke with an irresistible smile. I had only told Father about where the foundation stone was in this Temple. Yet Hartmut seemed to have figured it out. I was startled by that knowing smile of his and probed carefully.
"...Hartmut, you know where I'm planning to go inside this Temple, don't you?"
"You decided to steal Ahrensbach's foundation stone for Lord
I hadn't spelled anything out clearly, yet he had figured out almost everything. As expected, Hartmut's powers of observation were extraordinary.
"Lady Rozemyne, is my guess incorrect?"
There was no time to waste on questions. If Hartmut knew the destination and they wouldn't let me in without checking the interior first, I had no choice but to hand it over. I pulled several folded sheets of magic paper from my leather bag and passed them to Hartmut.
"...These are entry permits. Get the signature of the High Priest or Chief Priest, and find the goddess on the bookshelf. There may be mechanisms in place to prevent intruders, just as we theorized. Please be very careful."
"Understood. ...If possible, I would like Justus's perspective and knowledge for predicting and disabling traps and mechanisms. As Lord Ferdinand's attendant, he wouldn't blab unnecessary things, I trust?"
Hartmut said this with a meaningful smile, and Justus gave a wry laugh.
"If it's to help Lord Ferdinand, I'll cooperate however much you need, my lady."
"What should we do about Brother
"Allow me to serve as your guard, my lady. Under the current circumstances, I cannot allow your guard knights to be reduced any further. Lord Ferdinand would scold me."
Hartmut and Justus, the former still holding the wooden box, dismounted from their riding beasts. In their place, Leonore mounted up. Angelica, Brother Cornelius, and Brother Eckhart would guard the perimeter around the riding beasts.
"Hartmut told me I must not enter a foreign Temple without first confirming its interior. I know he's right, but having come all this way, it's agonizing to just wait."
"The purification for a Temple without nobles present probably won't take very long. What concerns me more is Dunkelfelger's movements. It seems like the sound of the magical tools has completely stopped."
Normally, signals for alert and counterattack would fly back and forth among the Ahrensbach knight order, or the emergency assembly bell would ring. But apart from Dunkelfelger's magical tools, there was apparently no sound at all. Leonore told me this, and I leaned out the window to peer at the sky above.
An ordinance bird flew toward us. I kept leaning out the window and extended my arm. It fluttered its wings and landed on my arm with a soft pat-pat, then opened its beak.
"Rozemyne, this is
The message was delivered in a hushed, cautious voice, and I exchanged a look with Leonore.
"
"I don't think they would have taken every single knight. ...Lady Rozemyne, considering the possibility of an ambush, let's have Dunkelfelger scout the castle for us. Either way, we need to go to the magic-supply room."
Just as Leonore said, I blew my words into the ordinance bird and sent it off, telling it to "scout the castle while maintaining full caution."
"A white bird! There's a magic-holder hiding in here!"
"Smash the gate!"
"Get back! The magic stones are ours!"
Multiple voices echoed from beyond the gate. I exchanged a look with Leonore. Immediately after, a sound began—like something body-slamming the small door meant only for gatekeepers, or like a blunt instrument striking repeatedly.
"They don't seem to be nobles."
"No. This sort of loud shouting and rough manner of speaking isn't something even knights would do. Besides, if they were nobles, they would simply ride their beasts over the gate instead of going to the trouble of breaking it down."
Just as Leonore said, there was no point in making such a racket to destroy the gate. Unlike Ehrenfest's, this Temple was located entirely within the Noble District, so there wasn't even a gate requiring magic recognition.
"Lady Rozemyne, allow me to go take a look."
Angelica dashed out with quick movements. At the same time, Brother Cornelius and Brother Eckhart turned their backs to the Lesserbus and took up a defensive posture while scanning the sky. Angelica quickly returned and began her report.
"Three people are trying to break through the gate. They're wearing silver garments."
"If they're wearing silver garments, they're likely from Lanzeneve. They're certainly not Ahrensbach knights. But I can't fathom why Lanzeneve would be causing trouble here."
Leaving Brother Eckhart to ponder, Angelica continued her report.
"They carry silver shields and silver swords. I'd like to fight them to test whether our weapons are effective against the enemy and whether binding with a stab is possible. May I have permission to attack?"
"It would be wise to test while they're still few in number, my lady's lady."
I flinched at the sound of Ferdinand's voice coming from near Angelica's waist. I knew it was
"Understanding the enemy's combat strength is certainly important. I grant permission to attack, but the enemy may possess various poisons, so please be extremely careful."
"Cornelius, protect Rozemyne together with Leonore. Let's go, Angelica. Once the gate is open, immediately create distance. I will leap over the gate and draw the enemies inside."
The moment I granted permission to attack, it was Brother Eckhart who shot out. He quickly summoned his riding beast, leapt over the gate, and Angelica, reacting to Brother Eckhart's command, lunged for the gate's bolt and immediately threw it open.
"Whoa!?"
"What the—!?"
The gate swung open all at once, and the men who had been poised with weapons raised to smash through it lost their footing and tumbled inward. I could see the silver they wore reflecting the moonlight.
"Hurry inside. Before they close it."
Brother Eckhart, who had jumped down from his riding beast, had most likely activated body strengthening and was now kicking the men from behind with all his strength. Angelica tried to capture the farthest-flung man—who was dazed—with her stab, but it seemed that magic-based binding indeed did not work on them.
"Heh, heh heh heh... No matter how good your ambush is in the dark, your weapons aren't gonna work on us."
The man who had taken a solid kick to the chest was coughing and wheezing as he rose to his feet, mocking Angelica for her failed binding attempt, and raised his silver sword. Angelica swiftly drew the sword she had brought and, without the slightest hesitation, drove it into the man who had escaped her binding, then pulled it out just as quickly.
"They seem to work just fine."
The man who had been mocking Angelica stared in disbelief, his eyes and mouth gaping wide, at the man who had been cut down in an instant. The cut man wore a bewildered expression too, not understanding what had happened, and pressed his hand to his wound. Blood seeped out, gradually growing stronger and flowing freely. Even in the darkness, I could see the red spreading across the white stone tiles.
...Blood, blood... so much blood.
The red filling my field of vision was terrifying and sickening. I knew that if I couldn't cut down an enemy without hesitation, I would be unfit to serve as a guard knight, but I was no good with the violence unfolding before me, and my throat tightened.
"Angelica, use body strengthening instead of your weapon. That's a unique weapon and armor you have there. I want to recover them."
The man nearest Brother Eckhart had already been rendered combat-incapable. He was being grabbed by the neck and dragged, yet showed no reaction at all. Brother Eckhart said, "Cornelius, disarm them," as he flung the man he was holding aside with sheer force.
"Ha!"
"Hya—!"
Brother Cornelius came running with binding ropes in hand, but I couldn't help but let out a scream seeing a person thrown about like an object. I was the only one rattled. The guard knights—even the women—wore perfectly composed expressions. Their complete lack of agitation drove home just how different they were from trained knights.
"Damn it!"
The bleeding man hurled a knife-like silver weapon at Angelica. When Angelica deflected it with the back of her hand, the amulet she wore apparently responded to the physical attack and reflected the blow. The man who had thrown the knife collapsed on the spot, unable to even dodge.
"What!? What was that just now...? Nobody told me about this!"
The last remaining man, apparently unaware that attacks could be reflected, paled as he looked around searching for his allies—only to find that he was the only one left standing.
"I'll use body strengthening to collect the weapons."
With a gentle smile, Angelica moved at a speed that left afterimages as she launched herself at the man, delivering a beautiful flurry of spinning kicks.
"When I heard 'silver garments and silver weapons,' I expected it to drag on longer, so I'm relieved it ended so quickly. It was a small group and our ambush succeeded, but being able to confirm that the weapons and amulets we prepared are effective is extremely valuable. I'm not yet as skilled at using body strengthening as Angelica, so knowing that the weapons work is a great comfort."
"Y-Yes."
Trying my best not to let the bleeding men into my line of sight, I watched as Brother Eckhart dragged the last man—who had been pummeled by Angelica—toward us.
"...Leonore. Was Brother Eckhart always the type of knight who relied this heavily on body strengthening in combat?"
"He's the one whose fighting style is closest to Lord
Leonore said this as if it were the most matter-of-fact thing in the world.
"It's the first time I've seen fighting that goes beyond the sword of a stab. Both Brother Eckhart and Angelica are far too accustomed to hand-to-hand combat. I was quite surprised."
...Grandfather's training really shows, doesn't it?
As they bound the men, Brother Eckhart, Brother Cornelius, and Angelica disarmed them, and Brother Eckhart admonished Angelica.
"This silver cloth is impervious to magic. Since you can't bring them down with Vaschen, staining them with blood would make them difficult to use later. When facing a large group with no room to spare, it might be forgivable, but in a small skirmish like this, think ahead and choose your method of attack accordingly."
"Yes. I think I understand."
...She definitely doesn't understand! Asking Angelica to think ahead is too much!
While I was stripping the silver items from the prisoners, Matthias and Lorenz returned. Hartmut had apparently told them to bring me to him. I pressed the Temple key I wore around my neck over my clothing to confirm it was still there, then stepped out of the Lesserbus.
"Lady Rozemyne, allow me to accompany you as a guard."
"I'm sorry, Leonore. I cannot bring along those who haven't received my name."
"That won't do. Lady Rozemyne, you have far too few guard knights. At the very least, take one more with you."
At Brother Cornelius's words, Brother Eckhart stopped his disarming work and stood up.
"If Justus has been given permission, then I'll go. The rest of you guard Rozemyne's riding beast while processing the prisoners and examining the silver weapons and armor. Share anything you learn about the silver weapons and armor with Dunkelfelger."
"Ha!"
Brother Eckhart issued his orders to Brother Cornelius, Leonore, and Angelica, then gestured for me to follow and began walking. Just inside the Temple entrance, we found a gray priest with his mouth gagged and his body wrapped in a band of light from a stab.
"Hartmut and Justus are waiting at the destination and are thoroughly searching the interior of the Library."
"The High Priest has also been secured, and we've confirmed it's possible to move in and out."
I listened to the reports from Matthias and Lorenz as we walked. Everything appeared to be in order. Moonlight streaming through the windows illuminated the corridor. Whether it was because Ahrensbach was considerably warmer than Ehrenfest, the windows were large and the hallways were bright. I hadn't noticed anything while riding in the Lesserbus, but the moment I dismounted, the riding attire was unbearably hot.
"My lady, this way. We even obtained permits like this."
The Ahrensbach High Priest, who had a stab pointed at him by Justus, looked at me with his throat tight with fear. I could see he was silently begging to be saved.
"I am deeply grateful, High Priest of Ahrensbach. If you remain quiet and cooperative, I promise you will be released once our business is concluded. Please bear with us for a short while."
I took the permits from Justus's hand and entered the Library. The floor was clean, but there was a dusty smell. There were far more books than in the Ehrenfest Temple library. I was in danger of being drawn in.
"Lady Rozemyne, there don't appear to be any particular traps here. If the Ahrensbach High Priest's words are correct, while many nobles may visit the Temple, none have ever come to the Library."
"Many nobles visit the Temple? At this rate, Ehrenfest's nobles will fall far behind those of other territories in terms of divine blessings."
When I expressed my dismay that Ehrenfest had been the first to discover the Library, Hartmut gave me a troubled look and said, "The purpose of nobles visiting Temples differs greatly."
...They come to dedicate flowers.
I didn't press further, and Hartmut didn't elaborate. He simply smiled brightly and guided me to a particular bookshelf.
"Lady Rozemyne, the goddess
"Thank you, Hartmut."
I stood before Mestionora's bookshelf and pulled the key of the Holy Book from inside my clothing. I touched my finger to the Holy Book—the sacred implement of Mestionora—carved into the bookshelf. With a click, the Holy Book opened, revealing a keyhole within.
I inserted the key of the Holy Book into the keyhole. Lines of magic power raced outward, and the bookshelf began to slide apart to the left and right. Beyond it, I could see a space that shimmered with an iridescent, oily film. It was the same as when heading to the magic-supply room.
"Lady Rozemyne, recovery medicine, empty magic stones, and other supplies are here. I'll be waiting here, so please call if you need anything."
I nodded at Hartmut, who lightly patted the wooden box as he spoke, and stepped inside.
No knight order deployment in response to Dunkelfelger's assault.
We encountered Lanzeneve soldiers on the Temple grounds.
We successfully infiltrated the Library.
Next—the foundation stone of Ahrensbach.