"I received word through Yudette's Ordenanz, and when Karlstedt gave the order, I headed to seize the North Gate!"
As the victory feast began, tales of heroism started popping up everywhere.
"They told me to capture as many as possible, so it was extremely difficult, you know!"
Wilfried's deep green eyes sparkled as he gestured enthusiastically while describing the battle, and Roderich was desperately scribbling it all down half a step behind me.
"It was tough, but I managed to capture a big one. I captured
...There he is again, Grausam. The name kept showing up among the defeated enemies, and I was losing track of how many he was supposed to be. Was this the last one? Were there still more? Just thinking about it was making me sick.
"I bound Grausam with my Stab—"
"Lord Wilfried, I have a question. If you used a Stab, does that mean the decoy forces near the North Gate weren't wearing silver cloaks?"
At Roderich's question, Wilfried went "Hmm?" and thought for a moment.
"They were wearing them, but the inner side wasn't silver, and when the cloaks were flipped over, magic attacks went right through."
About half the attacks had been fended off by grabbing the silver cloaks and flapping them like a shield, but since the knights were riding on tamed beasts, they couldn't cover their entire bodies in silver outfits. It took time, but in the end, Wilfried had apparently succeeded in capturing Grausam.
"When I brought him to the knights' order, they told me he was the third Grausam to appear in Ehrenfest, and I was stunned.
"If you want to know how the battle went, please ask
"...Mm, Hartmut, huh."
Wilfried looked at Hartmut with a slightly sour expression. Hartmut was enthusiastically recounting the Battle of
"If you'd rather not talk to Hartmut, why not have a conversation with Lady Hannalore? In Ahrensbach, she fought Lanzanave soldiers while commanding three Wolhenir, and in the Battle of Gerlach, she exploited an opening in Grausam's defenses. Her combat prowess is truly befitting a
I directed my gaze toward Mother, who was chatting with Hannalore, and suggested to Wilfried that he strike up a conversation with her. It had all started with my mother thanking Hannalore in her capacity as my mother and as a noble of Ehrenfest, but then I offered Hannalore a new Ehrenfest novel, "The Love Story of the Gods," which I hadn't even read myself yet, as a token of gratitude, and somehow the mood shifted entirely. Hannalore had been moved to tears, her eyes reddening as she gushed about how much she loved the love stories that my mother and the others wrote, and Mother had gone into full interview mode.
"Don't you think it's about time we separated Mother and Lady Hannalore?"
"They seem to be having a wonderful time, so isn't it fine? Well, I suppose you might be a bit uncomfortable, but..."
"It's more than a bit. The way Lady Hannalore talks about it, I'm being treated as though I'm some kind of goddess in a story."
When Mother had started asking me to tell her what I had done so she could preserve it as a story of her daughter's exploits, I tried to stop her, but Hannalore leaned forward with a slightly excited expression and launched into a monologue: "The things I recount will become a story?" Starting from when we appeared at the Dunkelfelger border gate and going on and on — with exaggeration on par with Clarissa, plus a romance filter slapped over everything.
...
When you looked at each individual action, nothing was technically wrong, so there was no way to openly complain to our honored guests. We just had to swallow it. Ferdinand and I were in a truly difficult situation.
"If it's going to be this much trouble, we shouldn't have gone to Ahrensbach in the first place."
"Brother Wilfried, what are you saying? Are you suggesting we shouldn't have gone to save Ferdinand?"
"That's not what I mean. You yourself declared you'd even take on royalty and the gods as enemies if it meant helping him, so isn't it ridiculous to now complain about being gossiped about? Just admit you're infatuated with Uncle and be done with it."
...I've told you a thousand times, I'm not infatuated!
No matter how many times I denied it, everyone around me looked on with knowing smirks and said the same kinds of things. "It's the cooperation of the Voll-Ernte, brought about through the guidance of the Ewig-Lebenden, with the Jugend-Reise now at hand. You've obtained a grown Raffeil and are feeling quite overwhelmed, aren't you?"
The string of god names was too much to follow when rattled off at full speed, but from the tone and expression, I could tell it was a mix of teasing and commiseration, and it made my skin crawl.
...I haven't even experienced my first crush yet, and I have no idea what any of this "love come to fruition" stuff is supposed to mean!
"Uncle doesn't seem all that bothered, does he?"
Wilfried turned his gaze toward Ferdinand, who was chatting away with a radiant smile on his face. No matter how you looked at it, it was a sparkling, forced smile radiating the worst possible mood. It was reminiscent of when he had faced
"Brother Wilfried can really say that with a straight face, seeing Ferdinand in such an exceptionally foul mood forcing a smile. I wouldn't dare go near him."
"...So that's what a bad mood looks like? Then I should probably get away from you sooner rather than later."
Saying "Uncle is a tough one," Wilfried departed. I wanted to flee somewhere too.
"Sister Rozemyne."
Just moments ago, Melchior and his guard knights had been cheerfully telling everyone how Georgine had fallen into the trap. The fake Georgine, clad in a full silver outfit that made her unrecognizable, had been chased by knights through the
The fake Georgine had burst into the Library in her silver outfit and slipped on the magic stones strewn across the floor — glass-marble-like things — taking a spectacular tumble. Melchior's guard knights knew the entire Library was riddled with traps, so they hadn't gone inside. Instead, they had taken up positions at the door with bows drawn, watching to see how many traps she would trigger.
She apparently didn't understand what was happening and lay motionless on the ground for several seconds before suddenly starting to move on top of the magic stones. However, she couldn't get up easily, stumbling and tumbling over the stones again and again as she rolled her way out.
But the area outside was coated in a substance with powerful adhesive properties, like birdlime. Her silver gloves and shoes stuck fast, and she desperately tried to pry them off. When a glove popped free, arrows were aimed right at the exposed spot.
The fake Georgine twisted her body to dodge the arrows and frantically removed her shoes to regain her freedom. However, just beyond the birdlime zone lay an invisible transfer circle. She touched the circle with her bare hands and vanished, leaving only her silver outfit behind. In the instant of the transfer, she was apparently seen in nothing but her undergarments in the White Tower.
"Melchior and the others became quite popular. Everyone found the story terribly amusing."
"I think it's because the traps Sister Rozemyne and Hartmut set up were so entertaining."
"...But was Georgine really captured? There were so many body doubles for Grausam, weren't there? The thought that Georgine might have one too makes me anxious."
When I voiced my concern in a small voice, Melchior nodded reassuringly.
"They say the real one appeared in the Foundation Chamber. Father dealt the finishing blow, and the captives we had taken began dying one after another. So I believe it was definitely the real one."
"Oh, that's a relief."
Just as I was relaxing at the news that it was the real one, Melchior lowered his voice slightly.
"It seems Mother also captured a Georgine, but the real one was taken down by Father."
"Our adoptive mother captured Georgine?"
"Yes. She caught her at the exit of a hidden passage in the castle."
Due to the
...I never would have thought Mother would be fighting.
"Lebrecht, the attendant, had prepared all sorts of traps and Magical Tools."
"He's Hartmut's father, after all. He must be quite skilled at that sort of thing."
After placing Stab-sealing shackles on the captured Georgine, Mother ordered the guard knights to escort her to the White Tower. That was when a Georgine who had transferred in from the Temple came crashing down through the ceiling.
"Father, who was sealed inside the Foundation Chamber, couldn't tell what was happening outside. When he received word from Mother that she had captured Georgine, he left the Foundation Chamber once to go check on the White Tower. That's why Mother immediately sent him an Ordenanz telling him to return to the Foundation Chamber right away."
Just after sending an Ordenanz to Ferdinand in Gerlach to let him know that Georgine had been captured and the situation was supposedly settled, they discovered the existence of the fake.
"The real Georgine also entered from the Temple, right?"
When I tilted my head in puzzlement, Melchior slumped his shoulders and murmured, "Yes. It was my oversight — I failed to notice."
"I had been told I must not go to the battlefield, so I was in my room receiving reports about how the trapped Georgine was faring. At that point, my guard knights had split up — some had come to report to me, and others had gone to check on the situation at the gate where the commotion had occurred — and no one was monitoring the Library. The real one exploited that gap and managed to get inside."
"...Would she really be able to get in without anyone noticing? There were quite a few knights at the gate, weren't there, even if they were recovering?"
The Temple had three gates, and Schumil and the others were keeping watch. I hadn't heard that Schumil had moved from the Noble Gate. The regular entrance and the carriage gate were close together, so backup could have arrived quickly. If the carriage gate had been opened, Yudette and the others would have seen it too, and they could have responded immediately. Besides, the Temple was quite spacious. It would be pretty difficult to reach the Library without being spotted by anyone.
"You didn't notice either, Sister. ...There was one more entrance to the Temple — an unusual one."
"Huh?"
"A waterway had been dug by Entwicken to bring in water. It was installed so that papermaking in the Temple workshop would be easier, remember?"
A passage connecting to the river had been built. Due to issues with water purification, there were passages that were not in use.
"The real one used that passage. Because she was wearing the silver outfit, the Washen spell couldn't activate properly, and footprints were left behind. She appeared near the boys' dormitory of the orphanage, entered the Noble District from the basement on the west side where townspeople brought food and servants went in and out, and then waited in a Blue Priest's room until the Library area was left unguarded. I believe the Blue Priest who provided the waiting room and his Attendant were acting as her guides."
The Georgine that Father had dealt the finishing blow to had been wearing the clothes of a Gray Priestess. If that was the case, then the real Georgine could have walked down the Temple corridors — the same corridors where everyone had relaxed their guard after transferring a Georgine — without anyone batting an eye.
"They..."
"Rozemyne."
Just as I was feeling a bit relieved knowing the real one's route of movement, Heisschwitz arrived with a smile. The Attendant beside him was carrying a platter loaded with food.
"Heisschwitz, how does the food taste?"
When I asked, Heisschwitz looked at his plate with a pleased expression.
"There are many delicious things here. I tasted several during the Lord's Conference, but they taste especially wonderful when enjoyed alongside a victory like today. By the way, your plate seems to have almost nothing on it, Lady Rozemyne..."
"I have my Attendants serve me portions of what I want, and compared to the knights, it might look like a small amount. I'm enjoying it very much, though. The walgeer with cream is only available this time of year. Please do try it."
When you're hosting guests, you can't very well not eat heartily yourself. Whether it was from a lack of appetite or because the food tasted like nothing to me, I smiled and put it in my mouth.
"Is this wine to the taste of Dunkelfelger as well?"
"Oh, certainly. It's quite a bit stronger than the Vizé we normally drink, but I think it's a wonderful flavor."
Heisschwitz was in high spirits with a cup of wine in hand. He seemed delighted that Ehrenfest had its own unique alcohol rather than the Vizé that Dunkelfelger usually drank.
...I don't think that's the kind of wine you chug from such a large cup, though.
If a hundred Dunkelfelger knights started drinking at this rate, Ehrenfest's wine cellar would indeed be in trouble.
"Excuse me, Lord Heisschwitz. May I ask a question?"
Roderich's expression was brimming with excitement as he posed the question. Heisschwitz, who had grown bolder from drinking, nodded generously. "Ask me anything!"
"Is it true that there were no casualties among the Dunkelfelger knights during this battle? Given that it involved a series of fierce engagements, I can hardly believe it... Please, tell us the secret behind the strength of Dunkelfelger's knights!"
After the Battle of Gerlach, when the victory declaration had been made, the Dunkelfelger knights had lined up in ten rows of ten. The commanders, Hannalore and Heisschwitz, had been on the balcony with me. Not a single loss.
"This time, the fact that there were no casualties among the Dunkelfelger knights is thanks to Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand."
Heisschwitz said this with a slightly serious expression.
"We had been instructed in advance to cover our mouths to protect against poison, and to always carry a Yurève with us. Over ten people suffered severe injuries from the poisonous magic masses that Grausam released, but no one died instantly. On the other hand, the enemy forces who hadn't been warned about the poison's properties and the Giebe Knights of Gerlach suffered heavy casualties. Several people turned into magic stones in an instant."
In that instant, the image of magic stones gleaming and falling flashed through my mind. I broke out in goosebumps, and the food in my stomach surged upward. I pressed a hand over my mouth and desperately swallowed it back down. I could not throw up here.
"Rozemyne."
Ferdinand's voice came from somewhere. As I turned to look, the door to the small hall burst open.
"Rozemyne, are you all right?! I've come to save you!"
My grandfather came charging in, still in his armor, rushing toward me at full speed. Perhaps it was from the shock, but my sudden wave of nausea vanished. While everyone else stood frozen in disbelief, Grandfather looked me up and down to confirm I was unharmed.
"I'm perfectly fine. I'm doing well, all thanks to you, Grandfather."
It wasn't a lie — he had saved me from the nausea. Grandfather nodded, saying "Is that so," then headed over to my adoptive father and bellowed: "What do you mean you started the feast before I got back?! You went through the trouble of activating the transfer circle to bring Ferdinand back, but you couldn't do it for me?! It was a struggle getting back from Ilgner!"
"...If Rozemyne and Ferdinand are both present, transfer magic is easy enough, but you can't just waste Magic Power willy-nilly. I told you that you'd make it to the feast on your own power, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened."
Apparently, Father had said the transfer circle couldn't be activated just for Grandfather. If the purpose had been to coordinate information with Dunkelfelger, I could understand Grandfather being put on the back burner, but now was not the time to argue about it.
"Rozemyne, ask
Ferdinand, who had appeared behind me at some point, said this, so I approached Grandfather.
"Grandfather, we have guests from Dunkelfelger right now. After you've changed, please let me hear about your exploits. I'm curious to know what happened to Ilgner."
"Fine, understood. I'll tell you all about it. Just wait."
As I watched Grandfather leave the small hall in high spirits, I realized yet another tale of heroism had been added to the roster.
Mother was interviewing Hannalore.
The stories of Wilfried and Melchior.
Grandfather's return. He came back at a speed that seemed to exceed the speed of sound.
Next up: Part 4.