From Bindewald to Gerlach

"Whaaat?!"

I had closed my eyes to avoid teleportation sickness, but I was greeted by a scream so shrill it made my ears ring. The familiarity of it struck me as strangely nostalgic — probably because I had barely spent any time at the Royal Academy. When I opened my eyes, Fraulem was there, and three other women were rushing toward us.

…Familiar faces, but none of them welcome.

"A magic circle suddenly appeared in the garden, and you people are — what, exactly?!"

"Fraulem, Professor…"

"I'm no longer a professor, Lady Rozemyne. …Well, you see, Fraulem was dismissed from the Royal Academy due to unbecoming conduct unbecoming of a teacher."

Hannalore whispered the explanation to me. Come to think of it, I had heard something about someone being dismissed from the Royal Academy. If Fraulem had been sent back to her hometown, it made sense she'd be in Ahrensbach. I'd heard she had some connection to Bindewald too, but I never expected to run into her at a time like this.

"For Ehrenfestians to appear in a place like this — how utterly absurd!"

"Yes, Sister, you're absolutely right — how absurd! This is exactly what's wrong with Ehrenfest!"

Fraulem and the three women pointed at us, shrieking "Whaaat?! Whaaat?!" over and over. Judging by their similar mannerisms and builds, every single person here might well be one of Fraulem's relatives.

Hannalore said, "There are Dunkelfelger members here as well — can you not see them?" in a slightly forlorn tone, then drew her Stappe and bound Fraulem with ribbons of light.

…Huh?!

The motion had flowed so naturally that I hadn't even registered what happened. At the same time, the Hannalore squad was already moving, and the four women who had been standing before us were captured in an instant. It might have been easy enough since they weren't wearing silver clothing, but I could only stand there, stunned.

Hannalore didn't look at the Fraulem group bound in ribbons of light. Instead, she looked up at the Ahrensbach knights and let out a soft sigh.

"The Ahrensbach knights are slow to react. Perhaps it's difficult to act against fellow nobles from the same territory… but you won't be able to protect Lady Rozemyne that way."

Hannalore smiled gently and said, "That simply won't do," with a sweet, dimpled smile. She really was a true daughter of Dunkelfelger.

"Is everyone who refuses to obey Lady Rozemyne accounted for now?"

As she spoke, Hannalore turned her gaze toward Bindewald's summer estate. The Ahrensbach knights snapped to attention, looked at Hannalore, then summoned their rideable beasts and galloped off.

…You're way too well-trained, Lady Hannalore.

If this was the Dunkelfelger standard, I was certain I could never live there. It was impressive, but I couldn't imagine ever pulling it off myself.

"Lady Rozemyne, you say?! You're supposed to be dead, so how are you here?! How stubborn can you be?!"

Fraulem, bound and rolled onto the ground by the ribbons of light, glared up at me and spat those words. Hartmut stepped smoothly forward. His mouth was shaped into a smile, but his cold eyes — which made it perfectly clear he wasn't actually smiling — looked down at Fraulem.

"A mere Fraulem, dismissed from the Royal Academy and no longer a professor. What exactly do you mean by 'Lady Rozemyne is supposed to be dead'? I believe that sort of misspeak was the reason you were dismissed, yet you still haven't learned?"

Being dismissed from the Royal Academy must have been an enormous stain on Fraulem's reputation. Her face flushed crimson with rage as she glared at Hartmut. Hartmut let out a soft huff and allowed a mocking smile to cross his face.

"If it was a delayed-action poison coated on the Holy Book, it would have been discovered and detoxified before Lady Rozemyne ever touched it."

Fraulem's eyes flew wide open in disbelief, and Hartmut's smile deepened.

"Only someone involved in the poisoning plot would know that Lady Rozemyne was targeted with a delayed-action poison. We'll need to investigate your involvement in detail."

"Whaaat?! I only received a report! I know nothing beyond that!"

Fraulem turned her face away with a hmph, and Hartmut pointed at her while turning back to Brother Cornelius.

"Cornelius, we don't have time for a thorough interrogation right now. Make sure she doesn't die before she reveals who gave her that report."

"Understood."

Brother Cornelius's expression hardened as he pointed his Stappe at Fraulem.

"Ohohoho… A sidekick of Rozemyne's, is it? How pathetic."

A woman lying next to Fraulem looked up at Brother Cornelius and Hartmut with pitying eyes. She looked remarkably like Fraulem, differing only slightly in hair color.

"Being made to serve loyally without even knowing Lady Rozemyne's true form — all while being deceived. How pitiful. This woman is the blue-haired Shrine Maiden Apprentice who was a Commoner and deceived my husband, who is a noble of my standing, into his ruin! A Commoner! She's a Commoner!"

I flinched involuntarily and pressed a hand to my chest. The woman who was laughing triumphantly at me while raising her voice turned out to be the wife of the toad lord who had come to the Temple. Hartmut stepped forward to shield me.

"Oh my. Back in the day, there was a foolish knight in Ehrenfest who fell for that same lie and tried to harm Lady Rozemyne, only to be executed. And yet there are still fools being deceived by such lies? How surprising."

"Hartmut…"

Hartmut, who knew perfectly well that I was a Commoner, smiled gently and took my hand.

"Don't worry, Lady Rozemyne. Back when you were hidden away in the Temple, perhaps someone might have believed it, but anyone who genuinely thinks the current Lady Rozemyne is a Commoner must be either completely out of their mind or driven mad by grief. Most likely, she simply wanted to turn a blind eye to the fact that her husband committed a grave crime."

"Whaaat?! How rude!"

"I'm merely speaking the truth!"

Without sparing a glance at the shrieking Fraulem group, Hartmut said "Don't worry" once more with a reassuring smile and surveyed the surrounding area.

"As the lady claims, let us suppose Lady Rozemyne was indeed a Commoner. If that were the case, then the top student of the Royal Academy would have been a former Commoner for three consecutive years. Lady Hannalore, who studied alongside Lady Rozemyne, what do you think?"

Hannalore, my classmate, looked between me and Fraulem and slowly shook her head.

"Lady Rozemyne performs the Fechspiel and bestows blessings, and once she grips a magic stone, she creates gold dust in an instant. For her to be a Commoner — no matter how you look at it, that's simply impossible."

"Exactly as Lady Hannalore says. A Commoner couldn't possibly be a Ditter knight."

The Dunkelfelger knights, somehow convinced by this odd reasoning, began grumbling in frustration — if Commoners could be Ditter knights too, the Ditter population would grow. I had no idea how their thought process worked that way, but apparently in Dunkelfelger, as long as you could do Ditter, it didn't matter whether you were a Commoner or a noble.

"You mustn't be deceived! My husband was also deceived by Ehrenfest and suffered terribly!"

While the toad lord's wife was screaming away, the Ahrensbach knights who had gone to search the estate returned with about ten women and children in bindings.

"Lady Rozemyne, these are all the nobles who were inside the estate. The estate's servants have been bound and left inside. …Was there a problem?"

The Ahrensbach knights looked at us facing the Fraulem group and asked warily. Leonore stepped forward with a chuckle.

"This woman claims that Lady Rozemyne was a former Commoner. If that were true, it would mean that Ahrensbach's entire foundation was seized overnight by a former Commoner. Isn't that simply shameful and pathetic?"

"Whaaat?! Whaaat?! What nothing but lies! Ehrenfest truly is a gathering of liars and deceivers!"

Had they not been informed that I had seized Ahrensbach's foundation? Even if they hadn't, wouldn't they find it at least a little suspicious that I could operate a teleportation circle capable of moving people? Fraulem and her group kept on screaming. The Dunkelfelger knights gave them an exasperated look and said, "Enough. You're making a scene."

Leonore laughed and prodded them further.

"Lady Rozemyne received the Grutrissheit from the gods — something no noble, not even a member of the royal family, has ever obtained. It should be obvious to anyone that the lot of you insisting she's a Commoner are out of your minds… but perhaps in Ahrensbach, such a thing is considered possible?"

"Not possible in Ahrensbach either. As knights of Ahrensbach, I would appreciate it if you did not lump us together with these lunatics."

The Ahrensbach knights looked down at Fraulem and her group with undisguised contempt.

"I saw with my own eyes as Lady Rozemyne sealed the country gate and shut the boundary gate. For the sake of Ahrensbach as well, please put an end to these shameful lies."

"Having been dismissed from the Royal Academy, cooped up in this rural backwater, it's no wonder she's become ignorant of events and festering with resentment — but she won't find any sympathy here."

The toad lord's wife, called a lunatic by a noble of her own territory, trembled with rage and glared at me.

"Tell everyone the truth, Rozemyne!"

"You ask me to tell the truth… I understand it must be painful with your relatives captured and your dismissal from the Royal Academy, but let's take a look at reality, shall we? A teleportation circle that transports people — only an Aub can set one up and activate it. Right now, I am the Aub of Ahrensbach."

"Such a thing is impossible! That girl is a Commoner! My husband was framed by Ehrenfest! Everyone, you must not be deceived!"

When I spoke the truth, the toad lord's wife's eyes shot upward in fury. The instant after, Brother Cornelius slammed his foot down on the top of her head.

"I will not tolerate anyone insulting my sister any further."

"Brother Cornelius…"

"Don't worry, Rozemyne. I've made sure they can't die."

…That's not what I was worried about!

As I screamed inside my head, a voice came down from above.

"What are you doing, Cornelius?"

"Brother Eckhart!"

Ferdinand descended with the Dunkelfelger knights, led by Brother Eckhart.

"You're late, Lord Ferdinand."

"I spotted people returning from Ehrenfest, so I detained them. How are you feeling?"

"I slept so well I was nearly left behind, so I'm in perfect shape. Did you have any time to rest, Lord Ferdinand?"

I glanced at the Dunkelfelger knights as I asked. Ferdinand said it wasn't entirely absent, took my hand, then murmured, "I can't examine you in this state," and let go.

He then removed only the back of his glove and pressed his fingers to my wrist, forehead, and neck. Immediately, Fraulem's eyes went wide.

"Whaaat?! Whaaat?! How indecent! What are you doing in front of everyone like this?!"

"It's merely a checkup, but she's so loud I can't take your pulse. Silence her, Eckhart."

"Yes, sir!"

Brother Eckhart gagged her with a muzzle. I watched Ferdinand running through his usual checks while glancing at the reactions of those around us, and tilted my head.

"…Lord Ferdinand, is this indecent?"

"If a routine checkup looks indecent to someone, the indecency is in their mind, not the act. There's no need for you to worry about it. You seem fine for now. …By the way, are you seriously intending to go to Ehrenfest? You'll end up seeing a great many things you'd rather not."

Ferdinand's question made me flinch for a moment. I didn't relish going to a battlefield, but I couldn't simply not go.

"I'm going."

"I see. …What are those wretches lying on the ground over there?"

"The nobles who were assigned to greet the Giebe forces that invaded Ehrenfest. The estate search is already complete."

From the report of the Ahrensbach knights who had been searching the estate, Ferdinand looked down at the toad lord's wife — the one Brother Cornelius had stomped on — with an expressionless face.

"Cornelius, the head is needed for memory reading. From now on, when you need to silence someone, kick or stomp the stomach instead. Wasting healing magic is wasteful."

"Yes, sir!"

"Also, these are the Giebe lords who used black weapons in Ehrenfest to steal the land's magic."

Ferdinand indicated the men who were bound with ribbons of light and dangling from the Dunkelfelger knights' rideable beasts.

"Black weapons?!"

"Stealing Ehrenfest's land magic…"

My retainers reacted visibly, and Ferdinand raised a hand slightly to calm them.

"Georgine spoke of a prayer ritual — but it seems it wasn't about filling the land with their own magic. Rather, they were draining Ehrenfest's magic. Right now, the former Lebkirschstock nobles have split into two groups and are draining the land's magic in large numbers."

When Ferdinand and the Dunkelfelger knights spotted people returning from Ehrenfest to Ahrensbach, they apparently captured and interrogated them all at once. Since many of them weren't even knights, the interrogation was apparently quite straightforward.

"The first places attacked were Giebel and Ilkner in the southwest. Ehrenfest diverted forces to deal with that, which left Gerlach in the southeast struggling under heavy assault."

Having obtained this information, Ferdinand decided not to go through the Sytzn boundary gate but instead to rendezvous with me at Bindewald and head to Gerlach.

"If you hadn't come, I would have reached Gerlach by now."

I fell silent, remembering how I'd been scolded by Matthias for saying I wanted to head to the boundary gate in advance — apparently, having someone linger near the boundary gate unannounced was even more troublesome.

"The assault on Gerlach is being led by Georgine's confidant, who has an artificial left arm and appears to know the area."

"My father… No, I mean Grausam is the enemy."

Matthias, who had carefully corrected himself from "my father" to the name, pressed his lips together and fixed a hard gaze toward Gerlach.

"Matthias…"

"I won't hesitate, Lady Rozemyne. Please rest assured."

"You can't exactly rest assured when you say that with such a strained face."

Laurentz smacked Matthias hard on the back. The blow must have been quite forceful, because Matthias stamped his feet and glared at Laurentz.

"Laurentz!"

"There's no need to settle this alone. Let's go."

"Laurentz is right, Matthias. Facing your own father must be painful, so why not leave it to someone else…"

When I said that, Matthias thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I appreciate your concern, Lady Rozemyne, but there are many nobles in Ehrenfest who were made criminals because of Grausam's actions. Some have lost their parents. I cannot run away from this."

At Matthias's words, Ferdinand nodded. "Very well."

"Then we'll send the criminals en masse to the Ahrensbach castle and immediately depart for Ehrenfest."

The Dunkelfelger knights piled the men — now re-bound with ordinary rope — onto the teleportation circle without ceremony. The Ahrensbach knights loaded the women and children from Bindewald's summer estate in the same fashion. Ferdinand gave orders to the knights remaining at the castle to throw them in the dungeons, then turned to me.

"Rozemyne."

"Yes."

I gave a single nod and activated the teleportation circle.

"Nenryüssel Ahrensbach."

After teleporting the criminals to the castle en masse, we flew by rideable beast from Bindewald to Gerlach. If we simply crossed the border, my adoptive father — upon detecting our intrusion — might mistake it for an increase in attacks from Ahrensbach. I'd need to send an Ordinance later conveying that we'd arrived as Ehrenfest reinforcements.

Bindewald's summer estate had been full of magic, giving it a spring-like atmosphere, so I hadn't thought much of it — but seen from above, Bindewald's barren, sparsely green landscape was painfully visible. There was nowhere near enough magic.

"Lord Ferdinand, this place needs magic."

"After the prayer rituals are all finished."

"I know that, but…"

At this rate, it wasn't nobles but Commoners who would be starving to death.

"Besides, rather than worrying about Bindewald, which has been low on magic for a while, you should be more concerned about Gerlach, which is currently being drained."

Just as Ferdinand said, Gerlach's land was rich with green — but the instant we crossed the border, I could see round patches of reddish-brown exposed earth scattered everywhere. It looked like the aftermath of a Trombe rampage. You could tell at a glance that the magic filling the land had developed dangerous imbalances.

"…That is the diversion battlefield."

Where he pointed, lavender mantles and Ehrenfest mantles were clustered together. Knights were fighting each other. I could see flashes of magic flying through the air.

"And those groups are likely the Giebe forces."

Several clusters of lavender-mantled figures were positioned in locations away from the main battle. The reddish-brown patches of earth multiplied before our very eyes.

The arrival and departure of Fraulem. The former Giebe of Gerlach — a name that emerged for the first time thanks to Matthias's resolve: Grausam. Georgine, who in her own way was quite the studious one, had proposed stealing magic from other territories rich in magic. Next: Grausam and Matthias.