"Please, come right in."
"Why is
My retainers all knew
"Lord
Upon recognizing familiar faces from the Temple walking through the mansion, everyone let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Lord Ferdinand will be heading to
"He'll be spending most of his time at the Temple for the handover anyway."
"If it became known that the people working here are Temple attendants, Dietlinde wouldn't be pleased," I added, and everyone nodded in understanding.
The building's basic white construction was the same as Father's manor, but it was distinctly priest-like—unmistakably lacking in any femininity at all. It was simple, practical, and utterly devoid of splendor, somewhat reminiscent of
The Chief Priest, who had been giving instructions to attendants in the reception room, turned upon noticing our arrival.
"Ah, good. You've come."
"Your manor really is devoid of ornamentation, Lord Ferdinand."
"It seems you're incapable of understanding the beauty of functional aesthetics."
We passed through the entrance hall and were led into a large reception room. The numerous tables, chairs, and sofas, along with the rugs and magical tools placed throughout, gave the space just a hint of being lived-in. Zahm then brought in sweets.
While sipping tea, we conducted a final briefing in the time before Dietlinde's arrival. Eating and drinking would only be permitted in this room. Once the
"I... I want to go to the Library too!"
"You said you'd talk about hair ornaments and trends to entertain Dietlinde."
"You're telling me to hold back when the Chief Priest's Library is right before my eyes?"
I might never get to come here again, and there must be countless books inside that I've never read—being told to wait was just too cruel.
"I want to be a man for today only! Brother Wilfried, shall we swap clothes?"
"Even if we swapped clothes, you wouldn't become a man."
"I know that. I know, but still..."
"Lord Ferdinand, might I have a word?"
"Go ahead."
"Separate social gatherings for men and women are not uncommon, but since the purpose of this event is to deepen the bond between the betrothed, I don't think it would be wise for you to withdraw entirely to a separate room," Brünhilde said, and Lizelote nodded in agreement before adding her own proposal.
"Why not leave both the Library and reception room doors wide open, so that people may move freely between them? The important thing is to create a situation where passage is possible at any time. Dietlinde would surely feel more at ease knowing her betrothed is visible nearby."
After hearing their opinions and thinking for a moment, Charlotte looked up and smiled at me.
"I hesitate to enter and leave a room filled with men. But if my sister is in the Library, Dietlinde will feel comfortable going in and out as well. So please, feel free to read in the Library, sister."
...Charlotte, you absolute angel!
"Aren't you coddling
"Perhaps, but I don't think it would be wise to leave Dietlinde's social engagement in the hands of a sister who's all fidgety and distracted, paying attention only to the Library. Dietlinde doesn't show much interest in books, after all."
Charlotte smiled wryly, and Brünhilde and Lizelote puffed out their chests proudly.
"We are quite accustomed to handling situations in Lady Rozemyne's absence, so you needn't worry, Lord Ferdinand."
"In other words, a Rozemyne with zero motivation for socializing is nothing but a nuisance, so she should be locked in the Library from the start. That does make sense."
"Honestly, whenever books are involved, nobody knows what Rozemyne will do, so I think sequestering her away is the most peaceful option."
One by one, everyone placed their REJECT stamps on me, and I clenched my jaw, looking up.
...I can't keep this up.
"Wait. I'll do my best with the socializing after all! I resolved myself to work hard for Lord Ferdinand's sake!"
"No, you stay in the Library. Ever since you dragged me around at the
...Should I be glad the Chief Priest was willing to let someone else handle things, or mourn the reality that I'm completely useless?
As I pondered this with a hmm, the Chief Priest walked to one of the doors and turned the key with a click. An attendant immediately stepped forward and swung the door wide open.
"Rozemyne. This is the Library."
"Coming!"
I crumpled up my thoughts and tossed them aside, then trotted toward the open door. Through the wide entrance, I could see rows upon rows of bookshelves filled with thick tomes arranged in perfect order. There were more books here than in Father's manor's Library. For a personal collection, this was remarkably extensive. How wonderful. As expected of the Chief Priest.
"Prayers to the gods!"
I scattered a shower of blessing light and was about to charge into the Library, but the Chief Priest blocked me at the doorway.
"Only after the Gilberta Company arrives and the hair ornament negotiations begin, you foolish girl."
"Then why did you open it now?! Is my joy to be put on hold for another week?!"
"I had a feeling you'd let out a blessing in your excitement over your first visit to this Library. Just as I predicted."
I buried my face in my hands for having involuntarily offered a prayer, and Wilfried gave a single, contemplative nod.
"I see. So there's a high probability of Rozemyne producing a blessing whenever she enters a new Library."
"Yes. Remember this well. With her compressed magic power released, the chance of collapsing has gone down, but the chance of blessings erupting has gone up."
...Stop it! Don't everyone take notes at once!
"Lord Ferdinand, a carriage is approaching. It appears Lady Dietlinde has arrived," an attendant reported, and the Chief Priest headed for the entrance hall. We followed. We greeted Dietlinde and her retainers. Dietlinde's retainers were all women, and I could see Raimunt, who had been brought along at the Chief Priest's request, huddled uncomfortably at the very back.
After finishing greetings in the entrance hall, we moved to the reception room for tea. Today's sweets were Dietlinde's favorite honey quatre-quarts and ice cream chilled ice-cold in a magical tool icebox—a true summer delicacy.
"This cold sweet is quite delicious as well."
"Ice cream is a summer treat, so it can't be served at the Royal Academy. I'm glad you enjoy it."
When I smiled brightly, Dietlinde smiled back just as brightly.
"I've taken a liking to it. You'll bring this chef to Ahrensbach as well, won't you?"
"No. The ingredients available in Ehrenfest and Ahrensbach are vastly different. There's no guarantee the same dishes can be made. Besides, when
At the Chief Priest's words, Dietlinde blinked her green eyes several times. Then she turned and looked up at her attendant.
"
"No. I never imagined that even bringing a chef would be forbidden."
At Martina's words, I clapped my hands together. So that was why Aurelia's magical tools had contained only ingredients—it was because bringing a chef was assumed.
"Ah, that explains why Aurelia's magical tools contained only ingredients. They were supposed to be prepared so she could eat food from her hometown, but there were no actual dishes inside. Aurelia was quite surprised. She'd been feeling down, worried that someone had played a mean trick on her, but that wasn't the case at all, was it?"
Martina shook her head vigorously and clasped her hands before her chest.
"A mean trick? Nothing of the sort. But my sister hasn't yet tasted the food from her homeland, has she? If possible, I would like my sister to..."
"It's all right. There's a chef here who can prepare Ahrensbach cuisine, so I had the ingredients cooked for her. Aurelia was delighted to taste the flavors of home."
I meant to reassure her that Aurelia was being well taken care of, but Martina's expression clouded for some reason.
"Um, Lady Rozemyne. I wish to meet with my sister during this visit, but her husband won't grant me permission."
"Aurelia's husband is one of Wilfried's retainers, isn't he? Could Lord Ferdinand and Wilfried put in a good word?"
Dietlinde pressed a hand to her cheek and said, "Martina is so pitiful..." I looked at Wilfried. He slowly shook his head.
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
"Oh? Why ever not? Martina cares so deeply for her sister..."
"Aurelia herself has expressed that she doesn't wish for it. Furthermore, the place where Aurelia lives is the Knight Commander's home, and her husband
When Wilfried refused so decisively, Dietlinde slumped her shoulders in disappointment and gazed at the Chief Priest with glistening green eyes.
"Lord Ferdinand, please grant my request."
"Unfortunately, Lamprecht's master is Wilfried. I would gladly accommodate a request from my betrothed, but this is beyond my authority."
The Chief Priest's gentle smile turned somewhat clouded as he spoke, looking truly regretful. Dietlinde glanced at him and sighed. "My betrothed seems as barren as Erwirbel in spring. I truly feel sorry for Martina."
...Excuse me? Did you just say the Chief Priest was useless because he couldn't arrange a meeting with Aurelia?
As the Chief Priest's smile deepened, so did mine. I caught sight of Justus holding
Noticing the suddenly sharp atmosphere, Martina hurriedly placed a hand on Dietlinde's shoulder.
Just then, Zahm entered the room.
"Lord Ferdinand, the Gilberta Company has arrived. Shall I show them in?"
The arrival of the Gilberta Company eased the tense atmosphere. They were our saviors.
"On this blessed day, radiant with the glory of the Fire God
After exchanging initial greetings with Dietlinde and her party, negotiations regarding the hair ornaments began right away. Brünhilde smoothly interjected to minimize the commoner artisan's direct interactions with the nobility.
"First, please tell us of Lady Dietlinde's preferences. Her graduation ceremony outfit has already been ordered, hasn't it? What color will it be? Are there any flowers she prefers?"
This was Brünhilde in her element—having selected suitable accessories for
Seeing the reception room settle into a pleasant atmosphere, the Chief Priest rose to his feet.
"Take your time and order whatever you like. Women's shopping takes forever, so we'll be in the Library. Come, Raimunt."
"Yes, Lord Ferdinand."
Raimunt was the only one from the Ahrensbach side heading to the Library.
"Well then, I shall be going to the Library as well. Judith and
I gathered the scholars along with
"
"...There's no need to prepare one, as it already exists. These shelves likely contain books you haven't read before. This section has copies of books from the Royal Academy, and those over there have already been lent to you."
"As expected of the Chief Priest!"
My delight and the Chief Priest's displeasure manifested almost simultaneously.
"Rozemyne. Reading comes after you finish your discussion with Raimunt about the magical tool."
"So it's still on hold, then?"
"Because it's something you said you wanted."
Raimunt extracted two moderately sized pieces of cloth from his bag with a nervous expression. They appeared to be prototypes of teleportation circles using magic stones for an energy-saving mode. The Chief Priest began examining the circles Raimunt had produced.
"The materials I could prepare aren't of great quality..."
"I see. If I use my own materials, we could save even more magic power. But the magic circle design itself is well done."
Raimunt beamed at the Chief Priest's praise but tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Lord Ferdinand, what exactly would this be used for? It can't transport anything very large, so I'm not sure how useful it would be."
"Rozemyne wanted it for transporting books."
Raimunt eyed the books in the room with a concerned look. While individual volumes were quite thick, the books made in Ehrenfest were thin stab-bound volumes, so I didn't think there would be a problem.
"Let's try sending one book."
I spread out two teleportation circles and placed a single sheet of paper on one. When I touched the magic circle and channeled magic power into it, the paper teleported to the other circle. It required almost no magic power at all.
"Lord Ferdinand, it required virtually no magic power whatsoever. May I try sending a book?"
"...Send it using Philine or Damuel. You have no way of knowing how much magic power is needed."
I had Damuel and Philine send paper and books, experimenting to determine the limits of what could be transported and how much magic power was required. One thick book from the Chief Priest's collection made it through, but the second one couldn't, depending on the volume.
"The required magic power varies depending on the size and weight of the object. An average lower-ranking noble would find their magic power significantly depleted after about ten uses. Without a way to replenish, it would be difficult to make this a permanent job."
After extensive testing with Damuel and Philine, we had our results. We confirmed there would be no issues transporting completed books for the mandatory submission system, and that it didn't require much magic power. It could potentially become a job for
"Raimunt, I would like to purchase this magic circle from you. Would that be acceptable?"
At my words, Raimunt's face filled with surprise and joy before shifting to confusion as he looked at the Chief Priest.
"I... I'm honored that you would purchase a magical tool I created, but are you sure? This was completed under Lord Ferdinand's guidance. Normally, it should be the teacher, Lord Ferdinand, who..."
"Don't worry about it. You're the one who actually built it, and I have no particular need for honor or money at this point. Just treat it as your own magical tool."
Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for teachers to claim credit for their disciples' work. I briefly wondered if
"When she's absolutely necessary for research, Hirschur sometimes siphons funding and materials from her disciples, so you'd best build up the strength to refuse. ...Given that you're not wealthy, the requests will surely come to me before they come to you, so there's no need to worry too much."
I could easily imagine Hirschur pulling something like that, and I let out a small laugh.
"Our next task is to make the recording magical tool smaller. I have the design here."
"I want to complete this before Lord Ferdinand leaves for Ahrensbach. Is that possible?"
I gave several pointed instructions about my wish for a device that could be played back with a switch. Not just Raimunt—even Hartmut leaned in with keen interest.
"If you only want to seal away a single short phrase, it shouldn't be too difficult a challenge, even though recording longer audio would require magic stones and magical tools matched to the task."
"But the constraint is that it needs to be repeatable. It can't be a single-use item."
At the Chief Priest's words, Raimunt and Hartmut both wore troubled expressions.
"...If the only use is repeating the same words multiple times, then you'd need a storage magic circle. It would inevitably become quite large."
"Try applying the protective circle formation used in
The Chief Priest muttered this while examining the design. Immediately, both of them spun to face him.
"So if we separate the storage magic circle and use a format where each phrase is stored on a single magic stone, we could significantly reduce both the size of the stone and the amount of magic power required?"
I could tell they'd completely understood, but I couldn't grasp how they'd reached comprehension from just that one hint.
...Could I even make it as the top student of the Scholar Course?
I was struck with overwhelming anxiety, but it vanished the instant the Chief Priest set a book before my eyes and told me I could read. I had Roderich turn the heavy cover of the book propped on the reading stand, and I began reading. As I immersed myself in the text, the sounds around me gradually grew distant.
"Rozemyne. It's over."
The Chief Priest's low voice accompanied the snap of the book closing, and I was brought back to reality. The hair ornament orders had long since been completed, the Gilberta Company was gone, and Dietlinde had apparently left as well.
"If we don't hurry back, we won't make it in time for dinner, and Richarda will scold me."
I was prepared for departure by my attendants and ushered into the carriage. As I climbed aboard, the Chief Priest addressed the group.
"Today, Wilfried, Charlotte, and all of Rozemyne's retainers performed admirably. Seeing your growth has put me somewhat at ease. Keep up the good work."
Wilfried and Charlotte waved happily at the Chief Priest as the carriage slowly began moving toward the castle.
That was the extent of the tea party where we met Dietlinde in person. We had planned to stay longer, but an urgent dispatch arrived from Ahrensbach, and
"Until the day the threads woven by the Goddess of Time
Georgine curled her red lips upward and laughed with evident amusement.
"Yes. I pray for the Goddess of Time Dregarnuhr's smooth weaving of her threads."
Rozemyne was of no use whatsoever, but her retainers were tremendously helpful.
Wilfried and Charlotte also did an excellent job socializing with Dietlinde.
And Hartmut, who secretly wanted to craft his own magical tools to delight his master.
Next time, we advance briskly toward the Royal Academy.