Alsteide's Story

While it's possible to go directly from the altar to the Garden of Beginnings during the ceremony for receiving one's divine blessing, if Prince Hildebrandt had done so, the people around him would have reacted very differently. Therefore, the door Prince Hildebrandt opened must have been the one on the side of the altar. I know this for certain, because I myself had entered through it at the Royal Academy to obtain my staff.

"They say Zent permitted Prince Hildebrandt to receive his staff if he so desired."

"That can't possibly be true."

I couldn't help but shake my head at Alsteide's words. Once you compress your Magic Power to increase your reserves and pray to receive numerous divine blessings, you'll run into trouble handling Magic Power later, which is why obtaining a staff at a young age should be avoided. I had conveyed this to the royal family and had the staff acquisition moved back from first year to third year.

"I was the one who informed the royal family of the drawbacks of obtaining a staff at a young age. Knowing that Prince Hildebrandt would face difficulties down the line, there's no way Zent would grant permission."

Prince Hildebrandt had been working hard—studying Magic Power compression and ancient languages so he could assist in the underground archive. As he continued to grow, his Magic Power would only keep increasing. I couldn't believe his own father, Zent, would grant permission knowing this.

"Calm yourself, Rozemyne. Whether Zent truly gave permission or not cannot be determined from Alsteide's account. Alsteide herself wasn't there—it's hearsay. All we know is that Raublut goaded the prince into opening the door."

"Isn't that a monstrous betrayal?"

At Ferdinand's words, my anger toward Raublut only deepened. Raublut was the Knight Commander. In Ehrenfest terms, he held the same position as my father, Karstedt. This was like Knight Commander Father saying "The Aub's permission has finally come through," right in front of something Melchior wanted but Father had rejected as his guardian.

If my own guard knights were told by Father, "I put in a word, and the Aub granted permission. There's no problem," how many of them would doubt it? I doubt any retainer would say, "I don't trust Lord Karstedt's word. Let's confirm directly with the Aub." The Knight Commander, who also served as a guard knight, was trusted to that extent.

"It's certainly a terrible betrayal, but if he was goaded into it, it means Prince Hildebrandt originally wanted the staff. There's no point in goading someone into something they don't desire."

Ferdinand said flatly that whatever his reason, Prince Hildebrandt must have wanted to obtain a staff, which was why they'd been able to exploit him.

"Obtaining a staff at a young age is a fool's errand, but if Prince Hildebrandt knowingly desired it, then his wish was simply granted. Add to that giving staffs to the people of Lanzanave, and he'll have plenty of suffering ahead of him. It's not something you need to agonize over."

Ferdinand told me not to try to shoulder everything, you fool, cutting off the discussion about Prince Hildebrandt. Then he looked down at Alsteide and snorted.

"Isn't this plainly deceiving the royal family? Under these circumstances, it's hard to claim there's any royal cooperation involved. Don't tell me he's just telling convenient lies."

Alsteide shook her purplish-blue hair, shook her head, then fell silent and looked down for a moment.

"The royal family we have a cooperative relationship with is not Prince Hildebrandt. It's Lord Gervasio."

"I see. A royal family member, but not from Yurgenschmidt—from Lanzanave, then..."

"...Lord Gervasio is already a member of Yurgenschmidt's royal family."

Alsteide's unexpected words changed the atmosphere in an instant. "What do you mean?" voices rose from the guard knights, and tension swept through the room. Ferdinand's expression hardened. Deep furrows carved themselves between his brows. Then he began tapping his temple with his fingertip.

"Already...? Those who crossed to Lanzanave should have had their medal registration transferred, which means... he's returned? The jurisdiction would be... Ah, so that was their real aim all along."

Muttering to himself in a low voice, Ferdinand's face cleared as if a puzzle piece had clicked into place. Then he let out an enormously exasperated sigh.

"Please don't satisfy yourself and just move on like that, Lord Ferdinand!"

There was almost nothing about Adalgisa in my Book of Mestionora, so I had no idea what Ferdinand had figured out. I wanted him to explain to me as well. I lightly tapped his arm to demand an explanation, and Ferdinand reluctantly began to speak.

"The most important thing for Raublut wasn't having the Lanzanave people obtain their staffs, but rather driving Prince Hildebrandt and his retainers away from the scene. Someone from the Central Temple checked and transferred the medals, didn't they?"

The last question was directed at Alsteide. Ferdinand's nearly definitive tone turned Alsteide's face rigid with fear. "How did you know that?"

"So it really was the case..."

"You're not explaining nearly enough, Lord Ferdinand!"

"If your medal is completely destroyed, you become unable to use your staff. You know that, correct?"

It was within the scope of advanced classes, but it was something taught in the lord candidate lectures. Having been drilled on everything up to graduation, I knew. When I nodded, Ferdinand began explaining in a lecture-like tone. I unconsciously straightened my back and gripped my stylus, slipping into student mode.

"If someone else destroys your medal without authorization, your staff becomes unusable. That's why the medals of those who went to Lanzanave are preserved even after they leave Yurgenschmidt. The medal, which was registered as belonging to a collateral royal, is moved to the place where the medals of those who departed to foreign lands are stored."

Alsteide watched Ferdinand with trembling eyes. He could see right through her—that despite being the only Ahrensbach ruling family member allowed into the Supply Room, a place no one else could enter, she'd been poisoned with lethal toxin, presumed dead by everyone, yet was alive and still hadn't talked. To Alsteide, Ferdinand must have been an incredibly terrifying person.

"How do you know such things, Lord Ferdinand? This wasn't taught at the Royal Academy either."

"That's simply a lack of study on your part. I read about it in old documents."

...The old documents are the Book of Mestionora, aren't they?

I thought it was unfair to dismiss not having the Book of Mestionora as simply "lacking in study," but being told that by Ferdinand, who had always been the top student, I had no choice but to accept it. For the record, even if I had it, there wasn't enough information for me to research this.

"Let's get back to the topic. Gervasio's medal should have been stored at the Central Temple as well—registered as a collateral royal who crossed to Lanzanave."

"The fact that it's stored at the Central Temple seems odd. In Ehrenfest, nobles' medals are managed at the castle, so I assumed it would be the Royal Palace."

"The secondary palace where they're born and raised is here, and their jurisdiction is the Royal Academy. It's different from the Royal Palace."

Ferdinand didn't say more, but I could sense that being born at the Adalgisa secondary palace made one's collateral royal registration slightly different from the norm.

"In any case, Raublut must have teamed up with Immanuel to restore Gervasio's status to that of a collateral royal."

With a medal, you could verify a person's identity through their registered Magic Power. You could see with your own eyes how many elements they possessed.

"As long as they confirmed that he was indeed the Gervasio originally registered as a collateral royal of Yurgenschmidt, that he possessed all elements, and that he knew how to obtain the Grutrissheit, Immanuel—a Holy Book fundamentalist—would surely welcome him with open arms. After all, they're the same fools who half-lit the selection magic circle and declared Detlinde the next Zent candidate."

Through the medal transfer, Gervasio was no longer a person of Lanzanave—he became the collateral royal of Yurgenschmidt closest to the Grutrissheit.

"That's my speculation, but I don't believe I'm far off the mark. Well?"

At Ferdinand's question, Alsteide nodded with a small, trembling motion.

"After confirming Lord Gervasio's medal, Immanuel promised to return it to its original collateral royal registration. It seems that after Lord Gervasio obtains the Grutrissheit and officially becomes Zent, some sort of reward is to be sent to the Central Temple—but that's an agreement between Lord Raublut and Immanuel, and we weren't given the details."

I let out an exclamation of admiration, finally recognizing that Ferdinand's speculation had been correct. At the same time, I was astonished by how deeply Raublut had been scheming. He was like Georgine herself.

"The Central Temple is under Raublut's control as well... His reach was far deeper than expected, and this must have been a very long-term plan. I never suspected that Immanuel and Raublut were working together. They seemed to get along terribly when they were verifying my Holy Book."

"After that, their interests must have aligned somehow."

Ferdinand had called Immanuel a fool for declaring Detlinde the next Zent candidate after the selection magic circle glowed, but what came to mind for me was the expression of disgust he'd worn when looking at the divine instruments made from staffs. Thinking he'd teamed up with Raublut only made me more terrified.

"...Rozemyne, do you have some issue with Immanuel?"

"I've met him several times during ceremonies at the Royal Academy, but Immanuel seems to have a strong obsession with creating divine instruments from staffs and reviving old rituals. I hate his eyes—they're creepy, unsettling, and I find them repulsive."

His grey eyes burned with a fanaticism completely different in direction from Hartmut's, and I despised them. Ferdinand hadn't been around during the ceremonies at the Royal Academy, so he had almost no impression of Immanuel, but the creepiness was firmly etched into my memory.

"So a Holy Book fundamentalist obsessed with divine instruments and rituals, thoughtless and troublesome, would consider the Grutrissheit all-important—and wouldn't hesitate to make someone from Lanzanave the Zent as long as they had it?"

Ferdinand lowered his eyes as if contemplating something, then slowly exhaled.

"So what happened after that?"

Even after Prince Hildebrandt returned with his staff, Prince Anastasius apparently still hadn't come back. To keep others from touching the staffs, Raublut apparently suggested that Prince Hildebrandt and the others return to his secondary palace first.

Prince Hildebrandt's retainers sent an ordonnanz to Prince Anastasius and departed together with the Central Temple personnel whose role was finished. Confirming this, the Lanzanave people also hurried back to their secondary palace and began absorbing their staffs.

"After Prince Anastasius toured the Royal Academy, it returned to its normal state. Since the Lanzanave people had obtained their staffs, my role was finished, and I wanted to return to Ahrensbach quickly."

But the door connecting to the Lanzanave mansion wouldn't open, and I was no longer permitted entry to the Ahrensbach dormitory either. When I complained to Raublut that something was wrong, he told me that Ahrensbach's foundations had been seized and the Aub had been changed.

"Detlinde was furious and sent a letter to Ahrensbach. Then, in order to restore us as the Aub of Ahrensbach, she was eagerly working to obtain the Grutrissheit, and..."

"She was so eager that she adorned her head with flowers and went around the shrines."

Hearing Detlinde's name alone reminded me of Ferdinand collapsing in a near-death state, and an indescribable anger welled up. My body grew hot while my head grew cold—a sensation I hadn't felt in a long time. I infused my smile with Magic Power and stared straight at Alsteide.

"How very interesting, Lady Alsteide. Saying the person who poisoned Lord Ferdinand—who survived the lethal toxin—with paralyzing drugs, shackled him, and activated a magic circle to drain his Magic Power isn't truly bad at heart... You really are Lady Georgine's daughter and Lady Detlinde's older sister."

"...Tha... that..."

Alsteide's eyes went wide. She clutched at her chest and began gasping in pain. Watching her agonized expression, I slowly increased the intensity of my magical intimidation.

"Rozemyne, control yourself! Your Magic Power is leaking!"

Before my guard knights could move, Ferdinand grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him.

"Rest assured, Lord Ferdinand. I've grown as well. I can now choose whom to target with my intimidation."

"I understand your anger, but you must not kill Alsteide. We'll need her going forward."

To prevent me from intimidating her further, Ferdinand covered my other hand to block my view. I heard Alsteide coughing. My guard knights called out, "Lady Rozemyne!"

"I'll hold Rozemyne's Magic Power in check, so get Alsteide away from here immediately. Don't bring her in front of Rozemyne again!"

"Understood!"

I heard the voices of Matthias and Laurentz. Once Alsteide was out of sight, I was left with nowhere to direct my surging Magic Power and anger.

"Lord Ferdinand, I'm frustrated, I'm furious, and I can't forgive this."

"I know, so unless you want a magic stone pressed directly against your bare skin, restrain your own Magic Power."

He said it in a tone that suggested he didn't understand at all, but even now he was being considerate of my aversion to magic stones, and my anger began to dissipate. There was no point in being angry at Ferdinand anyway.

I could feel my Magic Power being gradually suppressed, and the grip Ferdinand had on my arm relaxed.

"You've never grown mentally, not since the old days."

"I had rapid physical growth thanks to divine blessing, so if I keep praying, perhaps rapid mental growth will follow too."

"You pray more than anyone in Yurgenschmidt, and your growth rate shows that's entirely hopeless."

My vision was still blocked, but by the time we were trading barbs like that, I had calmed down considerably.

Ferdinand withdrew his hands and began checking my Magic Power to see if it was safe to release me. The guard knights looked like they wanted to say something but were holding back, raising and lowering their hands uncertainly. But Alsteide was no longer there, so I didn't think my Magic Power would run wild.

"Detlinde's personality is irrelevant now. Isn't the important information that Gervasio was going around the shrines? What exactly were you listening to, honestly?"

As Ferdinand said this while checking on my condition, I could see a hint of urgency in his eyes. Being told I'd been focusing on the wrong parts, I finally realized.

...Going around the shrines barely took any time at all, did it?

A massive amount of Magic Power was required, but as long as you had recovery medicine and could replenish your Magic Power, no matter how long you spent inside a shrine, no time passed at all in the outside world. It also helped that, thanks to the Magic Power offerings from the ceremonies I'd conducted at the Royal Academy, less was needed than usual—but I'd been able to complete all the shrines in a single day.

...Wait—could it be that Gervasio has already finished going around all the shrines?

Hirschur had spotted the suspicious individuals near the Civil Building. There was a shrine nearby. He had definitely been there this afternoon. Realizing that Gervasio might have already finished the shrine circuit, I felt my blood run cold.

"If he's going around the shrines under cover of darkness, that's one thing—but what if the Central Knights revealed their betrayal precisely because everything is complete and he's reached the stage where he can obtain the Grutrissheit? Where do you think the person they recognize as their royal—Gervasio—is right now?"

At Ferdinand's words, the blood drained from my face. When someone who desired the Grutrissheit finished going around the shrines, there was only one place to go next.

"Didn't Professor Hirschur say she couldn't get in contact with Professor Solange?"

Raublut's goal was to restore Gervasio's medal to that of a collateral royal.

Not a person of Lanzanave, but already a collateral royal of Yurgenschmidt.

And he'd been hinted to have possibly finished the shrine circuit.

Oh, this isn't really related to the story, but because his medal was destroyed, the real Grausam couldn't use his staff.

Next time, we go to the library.