Using a copied teleportation circle, I arrived at the border gate. The insides of border gates all looked more or less the same, so I had no choice but to judge by the symbols of the chief gods drawn on the magic circles. The symbol of the
"All I have to do is pour magic power in here, right? ...
I took out
... Piece of cake, piece of cake. Fufufu.
As I channeled through Mestionora's Book and felt my magic power flowing toward the border gate, the teleportation circle suddenly lit up. Still supplying magic power, I involuntarily turned around.
... Huh? What?
Only those who possessed either Mestionora's Book or the Grutrissheit stored deep within the library's underground archive could use this teleportation circle. Since no royals could enter the underground archive, the only people who could teleport here were
... Could they be planning to interfere...?
The instant I thought that, I was able to identify the visitor.
"It's you, Lord Ferdinand, isn't it?!"
"You caught on quickly."
The one who emerged from the teleportation circle was, as I'd predicted, Ferdinand.
"It's impossible that Lord Ferdinand would make such a cute mistake as coming to the wrong place. Based on everything I've experienced, I concluded that you intend to interfere with the competition decided by the Goddess and Eherwelmene. I can see right through you!"
When I declared this with triumphant confidence, Ferdinand simply gave me a matter-of-fact look and confirmed, "If you already understand that much, then this will be quick."
Being right about my prediction was... complicated. It was unlikely, but I'd really wanted him to deny it.
"What are you plotting? How exactly do you intend to interfere with me?"
"What would be the point of me interfering with you? I'm trying to stop Gervasio."
The contest of who could color the border gate fastest was a very straightforward competition—it measured the magic power of those who would become Zent. Even the starting point of drawing the teleportation circle yourself served as a way to gauge how much of Mestionora's wisdom you'd obtained and how skilled you were at handling magic.
"I settled for copying and pasting, but there was quite a difference in the speed of drawing the teleportation circles, wasn't there? I don't know how much of the magic power you consumed in battle you've been able to recover, but I think Lord Ferdinand, who has highly effective recovery medicine, is at quite an advantage. Since you're deciding who will become the Zent to color the foundation, why not compete fairly and squarely?"
When I said that I didn't think any strange interference or scheming was necessary, Ferdinand raised the corner of his lips into a wry smile.
"Fair and square? And what gives you the right to say that, when you're the single biggest contributor to interfering with Gervasio?"
"... Did I do something? I don't recall doing anything of the sort."
"Your memories haven't connected yet? Or are you simply unaware?"
Ferdinand explained while lightly tapping his temple, and it turned out that I was the reason Eherwelmene had decided to show the path to the foundation to the winner.
"I didn't expect you to be this oblivious, but when Gervasio was receiving wisdom, you interrupted and disrupted that moment, didn't you? The Mestionora's Book that Gervasio obtained as a result of your interference seems to be quite incomplete. On top of that, since you've already absorbed it, visiting the Garden of Beginnings again apparently won't increase his knowledge any further."
I recalled how I'd spread the Darkness God's mantle to absorb magic power and recover after being thwarted in my attempt to charge the magic circle and enter the Garden of Beginnings directly, and I clapped my hands in realization.
"That? ... I don't think I was aware of it at the time."
"That figures. Apparently, Gervasio's Holy Book only shows the route to the foundation in a broken, incomplete manner. In Eherwelmene's eyes, we are problematic Zent candidates who possess only incomplete copies of Mestionora's Book."
From Eherwelmene's perspective, the only Zent candidates were Gervasio, whose acquisition of wisdom from Mestionora had been suddenly interrupted, leaving him unable to gain any more knowledge; and Ferdinand and me, who shared a single Holy Book between the two of us, ensuring it was riddled with gaps.
... As Zent candidates meant to support the on-collapsing
"Lord Ferdinand, you've already supplemented everything necessary through your copying, but you didn't mention that?"
"Ah. My Holy Book is also supposed to be full of holes. Since there are many gaps in the parts not used in actual work, it's not exactly a lie."
"Lies or exaggerations don't matter. I'd like to know why you felt the need to hide the fact that you'd supplemented things through copying."
"... I judged it would be better that way for future purposes, but you don't need to know the reason."
He didn't tell me why he'd kept the copying a secret, but since Ferdinand had calmly declared that his own knowledge was also full of gaps, Eherwelmene had decided to show the path to the foundation to this time's winner.
"I never received any such explanation."
"You seemed likely to say something unnecessary, so I kept the explanation given to you to a minimum."
"How terrible!"
I glared at Ferdinand with narrowed eyes. I was used to his secretive nature and being kept in the dark, but I figured I could at least complain without being punished.
"So, what exactly do you intend to have me do? I won't help with any interference that involves attacking Gervasio."
I asked warily, and Ferdinand answered in an exasperated tone, "As if I would ask you to do something like that. The success rate would be far too low."
Even if it was true, having him point out how low my success rate would be stung a little.
"When you return to the Central Building after finishing your supply, contact either
"Rest?"
"You must need rest by now, don't you? You don't have time to make a brooch, so you can't use the Ahrensbach dormitory, but you should still be able to enter the Ehrenfest dormitory."
I shifted my gaze to the brooch holding my mantle in place. Before moving to Ahrensbach, I'd tried to return it, but he'd told me to "keep it until you've been officially approved as Aub."
"Um, Lord Ferdinand. My attendants were taken to Ahrensbach, you know?"
"
"Rihyarda went back to my adoptive father, and I imagine Brünhilde is busy with wedding preparations. I can't ask my attendants to—"
I said I couldn't impose on them, but Ferdinand made a displeased face and said, "It's not an imposition—it's support for Ehrenfest."
"It's important to show that Ehrenfest is backing you. Once magic power is poured into the border gate, it will light up spectacularly. It may be hard to tell since the sun is up, but unless Ahrensbach is the kind of territory that doesn't station knights at border gates—which it isn't—there's no way the knights won't notice the anomaly. The Aub who oversees the border gate will clearly see that an emergency is underway. They'll probably rush here immediately. And if the Aub of Ehrenfest isn't among them, that won't look good when considering the future."
Even in the recent political upheaval, there had been a clear divide between the winners and losers. Whether you could have a say in the future of Yurgenschmidt would make a huge difference.
"We need to provide visible rear support from another territory, otherwise, no matter how much information we provided in advance, no one outside of Dunkelfelger would accept it easily, and it would be hard to shield Ehrenfest going forward. Since we fought against
The sun had long since risen. Ferdinand said it wasn't too late to act if I wanted to.
"The purpose is to show both internally and externally that Ehrenfest supported this battle. There's no need to hold back—get proper rest. You'll have a difficult time after this."
"Huh?! Lord Ferdinand, what exactly are you planning to make me do?!"
"I would appreciate it if you could also supply magic power to the Haufretze border gate, but I won't force you."
Dodging my question, Ferdinand began giving detailed instructions.
"
Watching Ferdinand—who had tried so hard to interfere with my magic power supply that he'd practically made it impossible—still cautioning me to be wary of Gervasio's possible arrival drove home just how lacking I was in vigilance against danger.
"Is there anything else I'd need to do?"
When I asked, Ferdinand placed one hand on his chin as if thinking, then lightly pushed my shoulder with the other. As I stumbled from the sudden push, he pulled me in and held me steady.
"... That startled me! What exactly are you checking?"
"If you stumble from something like this, then practice is absolutely necessary."
"Practice? What kind of practice?"
Ferdinand looked troubled as he muttered, "Will there be time?" while activating the teleportation circle.
"Wait a moment, Lord Ferdinand! You haven't explained enough!"
"Käshüssel Ehestoede."
It seemed he wasn't listening to a word I said. Ferdinand activated the teleportation circle and transferred not to the Haufretze border gate he'd been assigned, but to the Central Building of the Noble Academy.
... He said I could rest at Ehrenfest, but... what exactly am I going to be made to do later?
Something outrageous was definitely waiting for me. That much was certain. From experience, there was no doubt about it.
I grumbled silently about Ferdinand, who never considered my circumstances, then followed his instructions—sealing the teleportation circle temporarily before resuming my magic power supply.
I finished supplying magic power to Klassenberg's border gate, then moved to the Haufretze border gate to supply magic power there. This wasn't for Ferdinand's sake. Yurgenschmidt would be in trouble if magic power wasn't filled to capacity. I told myself that as I supplied the magic power.
... Ugh, that was a bit too much.
The overuse of recovery medicine and magic power gave me a headache. Pain shot from the back of my neck up to my forehead.
"He was right that rest was absolutely necessary. How annoying. ... More to the point, he also knew I'd be supplying magic power to the other gate. That's even more annoying."
I muttered to myself as I activated the teleportation circle I'd sealed for safety. Light and darkness filled my vision. The world swayed and I felt nauseous, so I sat down gracelessly right where I was and squeezed my eyes shut.
"Käshüssel Ehestoede."
After a while, I opened my eyes to find myself in the teleportation room, surrounded by stark white walls. Between the headache and motion sickness, I felt absolutely terrible.
"Ugh, I feel sick..."
But I couldn't just lie down in the teleportation room. I mustered my remaining strength and sent a contact letter to Brother Cornelius saying, "I've just returned." The reply came back: "I'm in front of the door. We're riding back to the dormitory on ridebeasts, so cover your mouth and come out quietly."
... Cover my mouth?
Tilting my head in confusion, I slowly stood up and carefully opened the door while covering my mouth to stay silent. I caught sight of the Ahrensbach knights' mantle colors, and the instant I saw Brother Cornelius and
... What is happening?!
With the cloth draped completely over my head, I had no idea what was going on. But right now, what was being asked of me was to stay silent. I held my mouth firmly and felt the movement of a ridebeast taking off.
"I'm terribly sorry, Lady Rozemyne. This was the only way we could escort you back to the dormitory without anyone from other territories noticing that you're overflowing with the power of the Goddess."
The cloth was removed once we'd entered the Ehrenfest dormitory—not through the door connecting to the Central Building, but in front of the entrance used when heading to the gathering locations. I looked around in a daze at the line of guard knights.
"Was this Lord Ferdinand's instruction? How is Lord Ferdinand doing now? ... Cornelius,
I didn't call Angelica's name not because I'd forgotten, but because I'd determined that Ferdinand hadn't given her much of an explanation.
"Ah, well. How should I put this... Hartmut was already in tears praying to the Goddess, but I never imagined it would be this extreme."
"What do you mean, Brother Cornelius?"
"... It's the power of the Goddess. Lord Ferdinand ordered us to hide you with silver cloth seized from Lanzanave and escort you to the dormitory in secret."
Ferdinand hadn't shown even a hint of this attitude, so I'd had no idea, but according to Brother Cornelius, I was currently radiating the power of the Goddess so intensely that it was painful to look at directly.
"Lady Rozemyne, Lord Ferdinand has instructed us to ensure you get rest. Um, we'd like to drape you in this cloth again to avoid causing a commotion among those nearby, and have Angelica carry you to your room. Would that be acceptable?"
Leonore said this looking terribly apologetic, though she averted her gaze slightly. I had absolutely no awareness of it, but apparently I was in quite a state right now. I had no intention of causing a commotion, and feeling as awful as I did, I wanted to rest as soon as possible.
"That's fine."
I was once again draped in the cloth and carried by Angelica into my room in the dormitory. Once the silver cloth was removed, I could see my female attendants bustling about.
"Lady Rozemyne, how divine you are! You are nothing less than an incarnation of the Goddess! I felt the very moment your magic power was completely rewritten by the Goddess's hand, but I never imagined you would be so overflowing with the power of the Goddess. Your hair, blessed by the Darkness God, has gained even more luster; your eyes, blessed by the Light Goddess, overflow with the Goddess's power; and your very presence..."
"Clarissa, putting aside such useless words, prepare medicine so that Her Ladyship can rest. Do you really think you can call yourself a lady's attendant with such a derelict attitude toward your duties?"
Rihyarda berated Clarissa while briskly issuing instructions to Otilie and
"Your complexion is terribly pale, My Lady. If bathing is too much of a strain, shall I use a Wasschen to lightly cleanse you after you've eaten?"
"It's not just the bathing—even eating is a strain, but..."
"Lord Ferdinand instructed that you take a light meal before drinking the medicine."
Clarissa, wearing the expression of a competent scholar, explained the medicine I was about to drink. It was apparently a slightly strong dose meant to help me recover quickly. I'd escaped the bath, but not the meal. When I saw Brünhilde bringing in food, I resigned myself and sat down in a chair.
"As soon as word of the rear support reached the knights in the dormitory, Lord
Rihyarda explained Ehrenfest's situation briefly while serving my meal. It had been a while since Rihyarda served me. After hearing about Ehrenfest's current state, I turned my gaze to Leonore, who was standing behind my chair as my guard knight.
"Leonore, please tell me what happened after I moved away from the altar."
"Seven pillars of noble color rose from the divine instruments held by the divine statues, and the three people on the altar vanished simultaneously. While we stared in shock, the Dunkelfelger knights silently captured those in the center."
It seemed the rule was that those who had started a rebellion must be captured regardless of whether we were present or not. Raoblut had confronted and fought
"We were also capturing the Central Knights together with the Dunkelfelger knights. Then suddenly, Hartmut began crying, declaring that Lady Rozemyne's magic power had been rewritten by the Goddess."
... What was that? No matter how you imagined it, that was weird.
"The other retainers who had made name offerings said they could tell the magic power had changed, but they couldn't tell whether it was the Goddess's doing. When Hartmut asked why they couldn't tell, he grew angry, and from there he began proclaiming how overflowing with divine power you were, praising Lady Rozemyne to the skies. It was so out of place and uncomfortable that even after the Central Knights had been dealt with, we kept Hartmut restrained for a while... until Lord Ferdinand entered the Lecture Hall."
... Wow, Leonore, you're merciless.
"But then, Lord Ferdinand returned to the Lecture Hall alone. He announced that Mestionora had descended upon Lady Rozemyne and that a new Zent would be selected. Hartmut apparently wasn't lying after all. Right now, Lord Ferdinand is preparing everything just as the Goddess commanded."
Saying the same outrageous things, Ferdinand's words were actually believed. I felt a twinge of sympathy for Hartmut.
"Leonore, what exactly is Lord Ferdinand doing?"
I'd never heard anything about receiving commands from the Goddess. When I asked cautiously, Leonore told me that upon returning to the Lecture Hall, Ferdinand had immediately begun issuing instructions—laced with threats—to various people one after another.
"First, he ordered Ehrenfest to prepare resting places and food. He gave us orders as well, saying we must not steal the Goddess's blessing. He also posted knights at every location with instructions to capture Gervasio when he returned."
He also apparently gave instructions for shifts to rest and eat. The Ahrensbach knights had made do with rations, but the Dunkelfelger knights had been taking turns returning to the dormitory. Sending food to the knights during battle was, apparently, an important part of rear support.
"Your meals and ours are coming from Ehrenfest. On Lord Ferdinand's orders, the ingredients that had been prepared at the detached palace were brought to the Ehrenfest dormitory. Lunch is apparently being prepared for the Ahrensbach knights as well."
Ferdinand had said the ingredients came from Ahrensbach since they'd been brought from the Lanzanave mansion. I supposed that was true. Ehrenfest had apparently also lent out their chefs.
"As for the rest, let me see... This is just what Cornelius overheard, but Lord Ferdinand apparently told Prince
Magdalena had apparently balked at this—when there was no telling where else the traitors of the Central Knights might be hiding, was it really something that had to be done right now? But the person giving the order was Ferdinand. I could fully understand a mother's concern for her child.
Ferdinand had apparently informed her that Prince Hildebrand had been persuaded by Raoblut to obtain a Stappe, and that by opening the way for him, the people of Lanzanave had also obtained Stappes. Upon learning what her son had done, Magdalena had gone pale, and Ferdinand had smiled at her, saying, "Now that a new Zent is about to be selected, you'll surely need someone to put in a good word to reduce his punishment, even if only slightly?"
... The only library committee member at the Noble Academy who looked bored was Prince Hildebrand, and I didn't think they could summon Lady Hannalore from Dunkelfelger just for that. But using the bonds of parent and child to completely seal off any escape route—what a demon lord!
As I listened to Leonore's less-than-appetizing account, I finished my light meal, took the medicine Clarissa had prepared, had the dishes cleared by Brünhilde, had my hair ornament removed by Bertilde, had Rihyarda apply a Wasschen to me, was changed into fresh clothes by Otilie, and was told to get into bed.
"Leonore, is Lord Ferdinand resting as well?"
"No. Lord Ferdinand has gone to the Central
... The Central Temple? Ah, the key to the Holy Book!
Just as the key to the Holy Book given to a territory's High Priest served as insurance for the next Aub, the key to the Holy Book at the Central Temple connected to Yurgenschmidt's foundation. It seemed Ferdinand intended to cut off every possible means for Gervasio to become Zent.
... Lord Ferdinand, you should be supplying magic power to the border gates! What are you doing?!
He was supposed to be competing in a Ditter to see who could supply magic power to the border gates faster, yet Ferdinand was the only one off playing a treasure-stealing Ditter of his own.
"When you wake up, Lord Ferdinand said you should practice the Dedication Dance. He also plans to hold a discussion with the royal family. Please get some rest now."
... Dedication Dance?! A discussion with the royal family?! No one told me about this!
The medicine was already taking effect, and I was unable to protest before falling asleep.