"So, hurry along and stain the foundation. ...What's wrong, Mine?"
When I screamed and crumpled to the ground, Ehvermine tilted his head at me in genuine bewilderment.
"It hurts... I can't... no... nngh..."
With the divine power of numerous gods flooding into me, I couldn't even sit up. I collapsed onto my side and curled up as small as I could to endure the pain. If it had been only
"...Hmph. It seems even the gods are facing an unexpected situation. They're quite panicked. Mestionora wishes to descend and harmonize the gods' power, but can you remove that arm ornament?"
"Nngh... ghh..."
I shook my head at Ehvermine as he murmured, gazing upward. In my current state where I couldn't even stand properly, there was no way I could roll my sleeves up to my shoulders, search for the clasp, and remove it one-handed with any kind of dexterity.
Ehvermine crouched down and reached a hand toward me, but couldn't make contact. It seemed that even in human form, he couldn't move from where he was.
...The humanoid form is completely useless! What a joke!
"Well, this is troublesome..."
Ehvermine stood up in a voice that made it impossible to tell whether he was genuinely troubled or not. Through my tear-blurred vision, I could see him slowly scanning the surroundings.
"...Hmm? Someone is trying to open a path here. Their magic power is rather insufficient, but should we invite the one who can remove it?"
The one trying to open a path was undoubtedly
With a swift motion of Ehvermine's arm, an entrance opened in the otherwise all-white Garden of Beginning. For just an instant, I thought I saw the rainbow-colored curtain of the entrance shimmer. Immediately after, several small explosions erupted around Ehvermine.
...Ah, that's Lord
There was no one else who would infiltrate the Garden of Beginning wearing a charm from Fairbelken, the God of Concealment, and then launch an attack at Ehvermine. However, the attack seemed to have barely any effect — Ehvermine simply scowled with an annoyed expression.
"The magic power offered shouldn't have been from Quinta. You've used a cowardly trick again. Well, fine. Remove the ornament from Mine's arm."
"And why would I do that?"
"To summon Mestionora's descent."
"I refuse."
...Wait. Don't refuse!
Ferdinand must have removed his concealment charm, because he became visible. Holding several Magical Tools, he was measuring the distance between me and Ehvermine with his gaze, fully in combat stance. But if he refused now, I wouldn't be able to endure the divine power. With trembling hands, I desperately reached out toward Ferdinand. However, he kept his eyes locked on Ehvermine and wouldn't look my way.
...Help me, Lord Ferdinand.
"I see. So you intend to let Mine die as she is and then use your own means to complete Mestionora's book and claim the foundation. Certainly, it's efficient without getting your own hands dirty. A very quintessentially you approach. ...I'm truly regretful, but I see no alternative to accepting you as Zent. Mine, I'm afraid there wasn't enough time for me to support you and make you Zent instead."
With a completely resigned tone, Ehvermine shook his head, looking tremendously disappointed.
"Quinta, tormenting Mine any further is just cruel. If you have even a shred of mercy, put her out of her misery quickly rather than letting her suffer until death. And then go stain the foundation at once."
Ferdinand made a deeply troubled expression, looking back and forth between me and Ehvermine. Perhaps noticing my gaze pleading for help, he knelt at my side while still warily watching Ehvermine's movements.
"...If I summon Mestionora's descent, will
"Only gods can move the power of the gods. Neither humans nor I can do it."
I heard Ferdinand grind his teeth together.
"Do you have no objection to summoning Mestionora's descent, Rozemyne?"
"Hh... help... it hurts!"
When I somehow managed to nod, Ferdinand put away the Magical Tool in his hand and began taking out a different one. He pried open my tightly clenched mouth, saying "Keep this in your mouth," and placed something solid inside, then put something in his own mouth as well.
Then he turned his back to me, stood up, and fired something at Ehvermine. Beyond his widely spread cloak, a popping sound echoed.
"I've weakened the effect somewhat. Until Rozemyne is saved, you'll stay frozen like this so you can't do anything more unnecessary."
"Ahh... ghh..."
Ehvermine began crying out in pain. The first attack hadn't worked, so what had he done this time? Just as I was thinking that, Ferdinand tossed aside a silver cylinder. It appeared he'd fired a lethal poison at Ehvermine.
...So the thing in my mouth is an antidote? It's quite bitter.
Once Ehvermine was immobilized, Ferdinand immediately rolled up my sleeve and began removing the ornament from my arm.
"It hurts... ghh..."
"It may be painful, but don't struggle."
It was easy for him to say something like that. Even shifting my position slightly was agonizing. As always, he was ignoring my groans of pain — I just wished he'd finish quickly.
"...Um, Lord Ferdinand, Lady Rozemyne. Whatever are you two doing in the middle of the ceremony?"
Eglantine's thoroughly bewildered voice echoed through the area. Come to think of it, Eglantine was the one who had opened the path. I'd completely forgotten, but in principle, it should have been Eglantine who came, not Ferdinand.
"I'm removing part of her charms so that Mestionora can descend upon Rozemyne. Stop dawdling and come over here to help immediately. If anything happens to Rozemyne, you too will be cast to a far greater height — do you understand that?"
At the urgency in Ferdinand's voice, Eglantine hurried to my side. Seeing me groaning in pain, her expression changed in an instant.
"Lord Ferdinand, what on earth has happened to Lady Rozemyne?"
"I don't know. The only thing I'm certain of is that if Mestionora's descent isn't summoned, Rozemyne will die."
Just as Ferdinand said that in an irritated tone, one of the charms on my arm came off.
"Lord Ferdinand, please hold Lady Rozemyne up and pin her in place. I can't see the clasp."
At Eglantine's words, Ferdinand pulled me into a firm embrace to keep me from thrashing about. While he held me, Eglantine rolled up the other sleeve. With the two of them working together, the second charm was removed almost immediately.
The moment the charm came off, Mestionora's voice resonated in my mind.
"Step aside for a little while. I won't be letting you into the library this time."
And with that, my consciousness was gently pushed away, leaving me abandoned in a blank white space.
...I've been banned from the Goddess's library!? Noooo!
While I was wallowing in despair over losing my afterlife amusement, Mestionora's voice rang out: "It's done. You may return."
"Um, what happened? What did you do to my body?"
I quickly bombarded Mestionora with questions. Last time, Ferdinand hadn't told me everything. It seemed like it would be the same this time, so I wanted the correct information from the goddess herself.
"Last time, when I descended into your body, it became completely saturated with my power. That caused the powers of multiple gods to repel each other. If enough time had passed for the effects to have faded, the pain wouldn't have been this severe. But since almost no time had elapsed, you ended up suffering unnecessarily."
Mestionora said that was "one of the causes of the pain." Which meant there was another reason. I urged her to continue: "What's the second?"
"Quinta's Magical Tool blocked my descent, didn't it? So the gods who agreed to cooperate with Ehvermine poured in their blessing power with even greater force to overcome the interference. That would be the second cause."
...W-wait, gods...
The charm Ferdinand had made was designed to prevent divine descent. It wasn't designed to block divine blessings. As a result, the power of the other gods wasn't blocked and was accepted without resistance. The divine power, channeled with the expectation of being blocked, ended up being an excessive blessing for a human body.
"The gods didn't intend any harm, but it did seem like payback against Quinta for defying Lord Ehvermine."
If my suffering was the result, then I was caught in an absolutely terrible crossfire.
"I do feel terrible about dragging you into this. ...But I think we should end this conversation here. The impatient Quinta is about to lose his temper."
The way she said "lose his temper" made him sound like a wild beast, but Ferdinand was fundamentally a patient person — he just had a tendency to be efficient and pragmatic with his methods.
"I don't think he's particularly impatient..."
"Are you sure? Quinta is strongly influenced by Eyvilliebe, and when his Gedulrih is involved, his patience evaporates entirely. If possible, I'd prefer you not get any closer to Ehvermine from now on."
Mestionora was genuinely concerned about Ehvermine. I'd read in the myths how Mestionora, owing him a life debt, bent the rules for Ehvermine in various ways — but were those myths actually true? Ehvermine might truly be someone precious to Mestionora. That would explain why she didn't want Ferdinand, who had charged into the Garden of Beginning and immediately launched an attack, to get any closer.
...If I made a bullet-point list of everything Lord Ferdinand did in the Garden of Beginning, it really would sound like a wild beast.
"Understood. Once we're back, I'll bring Lord Ferdinand and leave the Garden of Beginning as quickly as possible."
"Yes. And then, please go stain the foundation of
Though things had turned into quite a situation, it seemed the gods did wish for Yurgenschmidt's survival. I needed to use their power to weaken its influence as much as possible, they had helped me this time, and they had granted me various blessings before as well. I had no reason to refuse the gods' wishes.
"Thank you for everything, Goddess. Prayers to the gods!"
When my consciousness returned, Ferdinand's face was close to mine once again. Just like last time, he wore a worried expression.
"Rozemyne, how are you feeling? Mestionora descended and seemed to be doing something, but there's no change in the divine power surrounding you. Are you truly all right? You haven't lost anything important, have you?"
When I had been wrapped in the power of multiple gods, the difference had been immediately obvious. But since there was no visible change even after Mestionora's descent, Ferdinand was filled with suspicion.
I moved my hands slightly. The pain had subsided considerably.
"There's still some unease in my body, but the pain has lessened considerably."
"Good. From what I've been told, it seems the power of the other gods is simply being consolidated and held together. As time passes and magic power recovers, the divine power will also increase, so apparently I need to use the granted power as quickly as possible."
"All I have to do is use it?"
I'd already agreed to stain the foundation, and after that there would be the
"When magic power is recovered, the divine power also recovers, though slightly diminished. ...I've heard the suffering will continue until the influence fades entirely."
"Wait a moment. How long until the influence disappears? I don't want to keep suffering for a long time. Isn't there some way to deal with it?"
"...It's not that there isn't."
Ferdinand averted his gaze slightly as he said this, then helped me to my feet.
"Now, now, Lord Ferdinand. Speaking like that will only worry Lady Rozemyne. You should tell her what the goddess said..."
Eglantine blinked and chided Ferdinand with a gentle tone. I agreed with Eglantine — keeping secrets was not good, especially regarding anything to do with me. When I looked up at Ferdinand with a sullen expression, he made a reluctant face but explained anyway.
"When the divine power of the gods is about to overflow like it is now, it's difficult to counter it with human magic power. But apparently it can be done right after depleting your magic power nearly to the point of exhaustion."
"So I just need to use up my magic power to the point of exhaustion and then have Lord Ferdinand dye it for me? There are plenty of places I need to use magic power from here on, so that should work out."
Relieved that the method was surprisingly simple, I saw Eglantine smile with her eyebrows slightly downturned in a troubled expression.
"Lady Rozemyne will be hastening the arrival of winter before autumn even comes, but life cannot be exchanged for anything. There's no helping it. There's no helping it, but..."
"Oh? Hastening the arrival of winter — does that mean summoning winter to Ahrensbach again? Using Eyvilliebe's sword does consume magic power to its limits, but it's a bit wasteful, isn't it?"
"No, Rozemyne. That's not what it means."
Ferdinand waved his hand dismissively and let out a deep sigh, directing a sharp look at Eglantine as if to say "Don't say anything unnecessary."
"I'll explain it to Rozemyne later. Lady Eglantine, have you finished your
"Yes, it's done."
Saying that, Eglantine showed me a bracelet with a large magic stone attached. That was apparently the Grutrissheit. It was normally worn as an ornament so that it wouldn't appear to be a transformed Stappe — a mother's love at a level that even Ferdinand had to admire.
"That is a Grutrissheit for a single generation. It cannot be used by anyone other than Lady Eglantine."
"I understand. For granting me, and the royal family, a Grutrissheit, I am truly grateful."
Eglantine knelt before Ferdinand and me.
"If Mine has recovered, then leave at once."
Turning toward the voice, I saw Ehvermine grimacing unpleasantly as he waved his arm. He created an entrance, then slowly began to revert into a great white tree. Having wished for Yurgenschmidt's survival and asked the gods for their aid, only to be attacked by Ferdinand — Ehvermine was, in a sense, a deeply pitiable existence.
"Lord Ehvermine, I have made a promise with the goddess, so I will go and stain the foundation. Please rest assured."
I saw Ehvermine give a slight nod.
"Rozemyne, you staining the foundation of Yurgenschmidt is..."
Ferdinand tried to stop me, but I shook my head gently.
"The gods' power was given to me for exactly that purpose, and it seems I've been granted divine power that exceeds what a human can handle, so I need to use it up as quickly as possible. Actually, even as we speak right now, the divine power the goddess arranged for me is slowly swelling."
The time I could spend without feeling pain was not long at all. Being treated as the goddess's avatar, I couldn't afford to collapse in front of a gathering of nobles and be seen groaning in pain.
"Less time than expected, is it? I'll prepare everything for the foundation-staining ceremony. Let's finish it as quickly as possible."
With that, Ferdinand began picking up the branches scattered around the great white tree.
"What are those?"
"They appeared after I cut off Ehvermine's hair, so they must be branches from this tree."
"Huh? Cut off his hair!? That kind of behavior is exactly why even the goddess is wary of you, Lord Ferdinand!"
The idea that he had cut off Ehvermine's hair — what on earth had he been doing? If he'd been doing things like that in front of a goddess, I could hardly blame him for being treated like a wild beast.
"If you don't want them, I won't mind leaving them behind, but they are materials that have fallen here. Don't you think you'd like to try researching magic paper?"
"I think fallen materials should be put to good use."
Ferdinand grinned. I felt the divine power inside me swell a bit more.
...From now on, I'm keeping Lord Ferdinand away from the Garden of Beginning! Just please overlook it this one time, gods!
Ferdinand, with the Fairbelken charm in hand, went ahead. Still feeling lingering unease and pain, I was led by the hand by Eglantine as we descended the altar, one step at a time.
"There have been so many things happening that it almost doesn't feel like we were in the middle of a ceremony."
"Yes, truly. Too much happened in such a short time. I'm in awe of Lord Ferdinand's ability to deal with it all."
As we slowly descended the altar, Eglantine quietly filled me in.
She had turned deathly pale when I suddenly vanished. Following Ferdinand's prior instructions, she had pressed her magic-stone-filled staff against the stage first to raise the magic circle. When she reached the Garden of Beginning atop the altar and found me groaning in pain, she had been shocked. When the charm was removed, the goddess descended and Ferdinand had gotten into a fight with her. Ehvermine was standing where the great white tree should have been, and Ferdinand had attacked that exalted being without hesitation.
"The goddess and Lord Ferdinand fought?"
"Yes. The Goddess of Wisdom was angry about his behavior toward Lord Ehvermine, and Lord Ferdinand was furious about how Lady Rozemyne was being treated. ...The Goddess of Wisdom seems to deeply cherish Lord Ehvermine, and Lord Ferdinand seems to deeply cherish Lady Rozemyne."
"If the myths are true, he saved her life, so he might be like a Lord Ferdinand to me," I said, reasoning that he must be someone even more important than books in the library. Eglantine looked at me with the expression one gives a hopeless child.
"I can really understand why Lord Ferdinand would hesitate to hasten the arrival of winter."
Suddenly, Eglantine brought up the topic of "hastening the arrival of winter," and I tilted my head. The conversation flow didn't make sense. At any rate, I now understood that the "arrival of winter" I'd been thinking of was something entirely different.
...I need to ask Lord Ferdinand about this later.
"Lady Eglantine, what you witnessed and heard in the Garden of Beginning must not be disclosed. I don't wish to give orders like this, but I have no choice."
"I understand. It was nothing that could be spoken of lightly. More importantly, let's finish the ceremony as quickly as possible, Lady Rozemyne."
The divine power was slowly swelling inside me. My hands had begun trembling slightly from it. Eglantine squeezed one of them firmly, then put on the diplomatic smile befitting a royal. I nodded and smiled back, trying to look like a proper avatar of the goddess.
The gods, who had each poured tremendous power into the Garden of Beginning and were now panicking. Ferdinand, who had instantly taken a fighting stance the moment he saw Rozemyne collapsed in the Garden of Beginning. Eglantine, who was shaken when she saw Ferdinand lunging over the groaning Rozemyne in the Garden of Beginning. Rozemyne, who had been banned from the Goddess's library.
Next is Part Three.