The reason I ended up bedridden after soaking in Jureve for two full years was a noble with deep ties to
"Previously, we heard that Lady
It was
"I cannot say with certainty that there is no danger. I intend to deal with as many threats within the territory as possible before I leave, but anyone new coming in will fall outside my reach. For information among the nobility, I can rely on my retainers, but intelligence from the Lower City is difficult for nobles to obtain. Information brought by merchants from other territories should not be underestimated, and the intelligence you gathered from merchants proved truly invaluable."
The Chief Priest said this, praising the Guild Master and Benno for the information they had provided. I had apparently seen the same intelligence, but I couldn't understand how it had been useful. Even thinking back carefully, I couldn't figure out what information had made a difference.
...It was mostly just reports of successful business dealings, wasn't it?
The Chief Priest slowly exhaled beside me as I tilted my head, his gaze moving across everyone from the Lower City in turn. Frieda, the Guild Master, his Attendant, Benno,
"Those of you who interacted with Rozemyne during her time as a Blue Shrine Maiden have no one closer or higher-ranking than Rozemyne herself. She should be an irreplaceable presence in your lives."
The only people in this room who knew about my Lower City life and the relationships I had built there were the Chief Priest,
"She must be very important to you?"
Ordinary nobles would never go out of their way to hold a meeting like this just to hear the opinions of Lower City residents. Most nobles you could exchange opinions with were of low-ranking status, but I was the Lord's adopted daughter and had already been decided upon as the future wife of the next Archduke. Above all, everything that would be spread to other territories as the next big trend was connected to me.
The Chief Priest spoke words that would raise no objections even if his retainers overheard, and everyone from the Lower City slowly nodded.
"To protect Rozemyne, I want each of you to do your part in your own way. Whether suspicious individuals have appeared, recent information from other territories, intelligence that nobles cannot easily obtain. If anything comes up, report any danger to Rozemyne or to
When the Chief Priest turned his gaze toward Hartmut, Hartmut, dressed in his Blue Robes, gave a small nod.
"I shall follow the Chief Priest's instructions to the letter."
"Of course, Ahrensbach is not the only one you should be watching. I also want you to keep your eyes on the movements of the central government and other territories."
"Understood."
The Chief Priest paused there for a moment. Benno's expression softened into a slight, wry smile.
"This is a joyous occasion meant to strengthen the ties between Ehrenfest and Ahrensbach, but the Chief Priest has single-handedly shouldered Lady Rozemyne's education and patronage, and has done his utmost to ensure our opinions reach the Lord. The thought of him being separated from Lady Rozemyne is... deeply unsettling."
The Chief Priest's mouth relaxed into a similarly wry expression. "Rozemyne's words and actions are unpredictable, after all. I can understand that concern," he said, looking at me. At the same time, the Lower City folks who knew just how unruly I could be fought back their laughter, each quietly averting their gaze.
...Benno's words—could they possibly mean something like, "It was fine as long as the Chief Priest held the reins, but who's going to take them now? Is it going to be okay?"
The shared apprehension about me eased the atmosphere in the room ever so slightly. I found that extremely unwelcome. Leaving me—unable to offer any rebuttal however reluctant I might be—the conversation pressed on. Reports and impressions on preparations for receiving merchants and future prospects were also given by the Guild Master, Benno, and Otto, with the Chief Priest listening to each.
What became clear during this discussion was that up until now, the Chief Priest had listened to my opinions and reports and relayed them to my adoptive father to a certain degree, but from now on I would have to do that myself.
"Chief Priest, I apologize for the presumptuous question, but there is something I would like to ask," Otto said. The Chief Priest raised one eyebrow and granted him permission to speak.
"If a blood relative of the Lord is to be married this year, won't a hair ornament be needed once again?"
"...Ah, that may well be the case. If they say they want one, I'll deal with it then. Worrying about Ehrenlibe in the summer is a fool's errand."
With an expression suggesting the utmost annoyance, the Chief Priest flicked his hand dismissively. If left unchecked, Dietlinde's hair ornament would undoubtedly be shoved to the back of his mind and forgotten entirely. Considering the importance of diplomacy, Ehrenfest could hardly send a husband to Ahrensbach without gifting a hair ornament to his fiancée.
Even placing an order at the last minute would make thread preparation and design incredibly difficult. The Chief Priest might want to put it off, but I imagined the Gilberta Company and Turi would want to get a clear picture as soon as possible. Turi glanced briefly at me.
Seeing Turi's troubled expression, I was about to voice my opinion when the Chief Priest lightly raised his hand. "Never mind the hair ornament for now. Instead—Gustaf," he turned to the Guild Master first.
"About the shop in the Lower City that handles magic stones—have you identified the buyers?"
"It seems that Viscount Joisultark was previously a major customer. After his death, there were no notable purchasers, and sales to regular noble customers have apparently increased."
The Guild Master had apparently anticipated the question, as he had already done his research thoroughly. He described the buyers of the magic stones and produced a paper listing the names of regular noble customers. The Chief Priest scanned it and said, "Well researched. This is good," revealing just a hint of the scheming look he wore when plotting something.
In the end, the discussion concluded without the topic of hair ornaments ever coming up again. After everyone had left, I told the Chief Priest he needed to prepare the hair ornament.
"Chief Priest, Lady Dietlinde wanted a hair ornament at the Nobility Academy last year. Moreover, hair ornaments are an important trend for Ehrenfest, so if one isn't properly gifted, you may end up humiliated. I, for one, would prefer not to see you being criticized by others."
After a perfunctory "Is that so?" the Chief Priest seemed to have thought of something, and looked down at me with a suspiciously refreshed smile.
"I'll leave it to you. Pick something appropriate."
"Wha!? Chief Priest, you're perfectly capable of making a proper selection, so you really should place the order yourself rather than leaving it to me. Lady Dietlinde would surely be happier that way. Or perhaps you could ask her directly about her preferences and build a rapport..."
Even if she resembled
"You're practically family, aren't you? What's wrong with helping prepare for my marriage? Pick something decent enough that I won't be embarrassed."
...That "practically family" line felt like it was being used a bit too conveniently!
As I pursed my lips in displeasure and tried to picture colors that would suit Dietlinde, the Chief Priest lightly tapped me on the head.
"As a bonus, you can order a hair ornament for yourself as well."
"Eh?"
"It's a parting gift."
What I really wanted to say was, "If you're going to call it a parting gift, then at least make a proper selection yourself," but it was pointless to say that to a man who wouldn't even bother selecting one for his own fiancée. More than that, the word "parting gift" drove home the reality that our separation was drawing near.
...Well, unlike my sudden parting from the Lower City family, at least I'd have some time to prepare my heart.
Trying to shake off my somber mood, I lightly shook my head and looked up at the Chief Priest.
"I'll prepare a parting gift for you too, then. How about Ehrenfest cuisine, the way
When I said that if he filled the emptied Magical Tool with fish and sent it back, I'd pack it full of home-cooked meals in return, the Chief Priest looked exasperated. "Your real aim is the fish, isn't it?" he said. But I thought it was perfectly reasonable—both the Chief Priest's health and my supply of fish would be secured.
"I'll send all sorts of other parting gifts too. A Magical Tool that records voice, with my voice saying things like, 'Are you eating properly? Sleep is important, you know.' You could occasionally play it for Justus..."
"Unnecessary. I refuse from the bottom of my heart."
Told that I'd be an additional burden on top of an already exhausted man, I recalled the words of a friend from my university days as Reiko, when I had moved far from home.
"You might not know this, Chief Priest, but when you move far from home, the love of family is practically a set package: care packages, flavors of home, and a little bit of nagging."
"I've never heard of that."
...Well, yeah, of course not.
Ordinanz cannot cross the border barriers, so delivering my voice would have to rely on a voice-recording Magical Tool.
"I'll need to ask Laimunt to make this one compact too. Do you think there's time?"
"Rozemyne, Laimunt is my apprentice. He is not one of your retainers to use as you please."
"My teacher's apprentice would be my senior fellow student, wouldn't he? Hmm? If we're going by order of enrollment, he'd be my junior fellow student, perhaps? Either way, he's not entirely unrelated to me, so I don't see the problem with asking. Professor
The Chief Priest let out a heavy sigh, perhaps reminded of his apprentice's freewheeling ways.
"Before you dream up unnecessary parting gifts, let's focus on learning the rest of how to make recovery medicine."
"...Yes."
There was a great deal the Chief Priest still needed to teach me. The most important was how to make recovery medicine. Up until now, he had prepared it for me, but once he was gone, I would have to do it myself.
"I'll teach your retainers as well, so you should manage."
The retainers who were ordered to don mixing robes and gather in my workshop turned out to be Hartmut and
The hardest part of mixing recovery medicine was the physical endurance required. I was overwhelmingly short on stamina for the continuous stirring needed to blend the ingredients together with Magic Power. As long as the materials were prepared, you measured, cut, added them in the prescribed order, and stirred while channeling your Magic Power—it would eventually come together.
But the stirring was exhausting. When I let out a complaint about my arms aching, Cornelius, who had been seriously examining the quality of the ingredients, let out a light sigh.
"Normally, adjusting the amount and flow of Magic Power is the difficult part, but Lady Rozemyne's stamina is the real issue. Will you be all right in the practical courses of the Civil Official track?"
"It's nothing compared to the Knight track, and the lectures at the Nobility Academy are simple compared to the mixing standards the Chief Priest demands."
The Civil Official track was mandatory if I wanted to become a Librarian. I had to pass it no matter what. There was absolutely zero intention of giving up.
"Your handling of Magic Power truly is remarkable—channeling Magic Power into body-enhancement Magical Tools while also adjusting the mixing process at the same time."
Hartmut said this as he earnestly took notes on the mixing procedure.
Once I'd gotten the hang of channeling Magic Power into both body enhancement and the mixing process simultaneously, the extremely foul-tasting recovery medicine was successfully completed.
"Place the finished recovery medicine in here and cover it with this cloth."
I put the completed recovery medicine into a large jar and draped a cloth over it to prevent spoilage or degradation.
"This should last for a while, but even though you've taught me, I won't actually be able to make any without ingredients."
"The reason I'm teaching Cornelius the recipe this time is because you'll need to gather the ingredients. Watch carefully and remember what quality level is required."
We'd have to start from the gathering stage, but virtually every ingredient needed was the kind that made Cornelius grimace. I didn't think they'd be easy to come by.
"...However, I plan to leave most of the ingredients at your workshop. They should last about five years."
"You're leaving all of these here?"
Hartmut raised his voice in surprise as he looked at the array of ingredients that had been brought into my workshop. Apparently, there were many precious materials whose value wasn't immediately obvious to the untrained eye.
"There probably won't be time for leisurely research, and I don't know whether I'll even have a workshop on the other side."
"Eh? What about making medicine? Won't you need medicine yourself, Chief Priest?"
I couldn't imagine him facing an exhausting workload without recovery medicine. At my words, the Chief Priest nodded. "Of course I'll need recovery medicine."
"However, I intend to leave the mixing to Justus."
Apparently Justus himself had accumulated a massive stockpile of ingredients, so the Chief Priest didn't need to bring any with him.
"Even with all this, he doesn't need any of the ingredients here? Just how many ingredients does Lord Justus have?"
Hartmut said this with a dumbfounded expression. Justus remained as much an enigma as ever.
And once I could make both the extremely foul recovery medicine and the improved gentler version, the recovery medicine training would be complete.
"From here on, you need to be careful about dosages. You're rather careless, so Hartmut will be in charge of measuring the medicine. Giving Rozemyne too much can upset her condition. This is the thing that requires the most care."
"I leave it to you."
Once Hartmut had composed himself, the Chief Priest placed ingredients and a transparent magic stone drained of Magic Power in front of me.
"While I'm instructing Hartmut, Rozemyne, I want you to practice extracting other people's Magic Power from ingredients and transferring it into magic stones. This set has mixed, extraneous Magic Power, and this set has had the extraneous Magic Power removed by me. You should be getting close to being able to sense other people's Magic Power by now."
The task was to touch the two sets of ingredients, sense the original Magic Power contained within each, and remove the excess.
...What? That sounds really hard!
Following the Chief Priest's instructions, I touched the two ingredients. The flow of Magic Power was different, and I could clearly tell that one had mixed, jumbled Magic Power running through it.
"One is full of extraneous Magic Power, and the other has only the ingredient's own Magic Power and mine. Can you tell the difference?"
"Yes."
"Then, gradually thread your own Magic Power in like a thin filament, and push the extraneous Magic Power out toward the magic stone."
I concentrated and extended my Magic Power in a fine thread, visualizing a filtering process as I gradually infused the ingredient, allowing only the ingredient's natural Magic Power to remain while pushing the extraneous Magic Power outward.
Meanwhile, the Chief Priest began giving Hartmut detailed instructions about dosages, usage points, the portion Richarda managed, and other minutiae related to the medicine.
"I did it!"
It had taken an incredibly long time to remove the extraneous Magic Power from just one small ingredient, but my chest was full of the sense of accomplishment.
"Let me see."
The Chief Priest picked up the finished ingredient and furrowed his brow slightly. As he stared at it for an unexpectedly long time, I gradually grew anxious.
"...Um, did I do something wrong?"
"No, there's no problem. The extraneous Magic Power has been removed."
With that, the Chief Priest handed the ingredient back. Then he took out a moderately sized wooden box and placed it in front of me.
"Remove the extraneous Magic Power from these ingredients."
Inside were four items: a Franmerz fruit, a Quelvarweide leaf, Vinfar fur, and Granzlin powder.
"Aren't these the things you... won in the Dihter match from Heisshitz of
"Ah, they're quite rare and of excellent quality. Perfect for making your Jureve. There's no time to gather new ones, and I need the Jureve ready before I leave for Ahrensbach."
The Chief Priest said this matter-of-factly, but these were the ingredients that had made Heisshitz look as though his entire fortune had been extorted.
"Is it truly all right for me to use these in my Jureve?"
"Yes. That's precisely why I added the Granzlin powder."
The ingredients available in Ehrenfest were limited, and those gathered while students were enrolled at the Nobility Academy tended to be of insufficient quality since they were collected by students.
"...Are you really sure?"
"Stop dawdling and get on with it. There truly is no time. After making the Jureve, you'll also need to review for the Nobility Academy. I will not permit the embarrassing spectacle of your grades dropping the moment I leave. Next year, I expect you to earn top marks in both the Lord Candidate track and the Civil Official track."
Glared at by the Chief Priest, I caught my breath with a sharp hiss. I didn't know what he was thinking, but it was terrifying.
"Do I really have to be top of the class?"
"If I've trained you and you have the innate talent to go with it, both conditions being met will make things easier for me in Ahrensbach. You'll cooperate for my sake, won't you? After all, I'm practically family."
...Dad, Dad, there's a demon over here!
I screamed internally, but if it would make things even slightly easier for the Chief Priest, I intended to try my hardest. Everything he had done for me up to now could never be repaid with just a little effort.
"Fine, I'll do it. I'll do everything—the top marks and the Jureve, all of it."
"Then remove the extraneous Magic Power from every ingredient here. After that, you're done for the day."
I let out a long breath, slowly inhaled once more, and faced the ingredients again. I started with the Franmerz fruit.
Focusing carefully, I slowly channeled my Magic Power and removed the extraneous Magic Power from within the Franmerz fruit.
After removing the extraneous Magic Power from every ingredient, the day's work was done. I drank recovery medicine and went to sleep, and the next day, I fully imbued the ingredients with my own Magic Power and created the magic stones. Just as I had done when making magic stones for Jureve before, the magic stones were completed in colors matching the season.
"With this, you should be able to make Jureve without any issues."
Looking at the completed magic stones, the Chief Priest said, "Very good."
The Chief Priest showed the retainers that he would listen to information from the Lower City merchants.
And then, using "practically family," he maneuvered Rozemyne into action.
But since he's pouring in ingredients and recovery medicine recipes left and right, I suppose it all works out.
Next is Hartmut's first shrine ceremony, the Spring Coming-of-Age Ritual.