My efficiency at using Magic Power had gotten too good, to the point where I couldn't stop the flow by my own will anymore, and blessings started spilling out uncontrollably. After causing a scene during the music practical, I passed my exams, summoned
"What should I do, Rihyarda? I keep trying to stop my Magic Power like before, but it won't stop! I think it's because of the ceremony for receiving the gods' blessings, but..."
"I'm terribly sorry, Your Ladyship, but I'm afraid I don't quite understand your situation. You see, back in my Student Day period, we would acquire our Stappe after the ceremony for receiving the gods' blessings..."
Rihyarda said this with a troubled expression. It turned out there was a good reason for the old curriculum, which had students obtain their Stappe just before graduation. Not knowing how to suppress the blessings or properly control the flow of Magic Power, I held my head in my hands.
...This is exactly why, back in the day, they used to get their Stappe after their growth was complete and they'd received the gods' blessings! Aaaaah! Who was the person responsible for arbitrarily changing the curriculum!?
"Come to think of it,
"...I'll do that."
Dinner time arrived, and Hirschur showed up. She looked like she had a headache, but my own head hurt just as much in greeting her.
"Hirschur, the ceremony yesterday made controlling my Magic Power extremely difficult. I can barely feel the consumption of Magic Power, and during the music practical, the blessings just wouldn't stop. What should I do?"
"How should I know? If blessings spilling over doesn't cause much of a problem for anyone, then just let them flow as freely as you like. For specifics, you should ask Ferdinand."
I was immediately brushed off—she couldn't care less about troubles caused by having too much Magic Power.
"
"Sure. I had the Attendants prepare a private room where we can speak among only the involved parties, to avoid confusion. Let's head there after the meal."
With the dorm supervisor present for dinner, it was a scene that would be completely ordinary in other dorms but extremely rare for Ehrenfest. Everyone kept glancing at Hirschur, wondering what on earth had happened.
Hirschur didn't touch on the blessing ceremony incident at all, instead praising the students who had passed their first-day exams two days in a row.
"Ehrenfest's lecture-based courses are truly impressive. Everyone is still passing on the first day, aren't they? The teachers have been talking quite highly of Ehrenfest, given how your results improve every year."
It wasn't just the lecture courses—more and more people had learned about and begun practicing
"When
People around us had apparently gotten used to Ehrenfest's first-day passes recently, since they weren't very surprised anymore. Even when everyone passed on the first day, the reaction was more like "Yeah, figured."
That was precisely why hearing that teachers were speaking highly of them, and that their overall scores improved year after year—receiving praise from a third party—made me genuinely happy.
"Ferdinand pushes us so hard. I'm putting everything into these exams just to pass on the first day."
Besides, there were too many children these days who would become mentally unstable if they didn't have a goal to focus on. The first report about the purge had arrived, but follow-up information had yet to come. However, I still had no intention of sharing purge-related information with Hirschur.
Hirschur was savoring with relish the food that had become a familiar taste for Ehrenfest students. Ehrenfest had been gradually releasing recipes through the Lord's Conference, but it was apparently quite difficult to recreate them just from reading the recipes.
In other duchies, they were barely managing to reproduce the recipes and hadn't gotten far enough to create new flavors.
"It's only a matter of time, though. It took my chefs several years before they could create new dishes rather than just learning what I taught them."
The key was how faithfully they could replicate the various unconventional cooking methods and preparations that went against previous common knowledge. After that would come the wild modifications—making you tilt your head and ask "How did this end up like this?"—using each duchy's specialty products, tailored to local tastes.
...In the meantime, I'd need to come up with new flavors myself.
"Rozemyne, what is this dessert?"
"It's a sweet we call 'mousse' in Ehrenfest."
A carefully crafted dessert with honey yogurt mousse sandwiched between sponge cake layers. By the way, this mousse was this year's reward recipe. Gelatin production had begun at the Ottomar Company, so this was a recipe that could finally be shared.
...For the sake of Frieda working hard at her Italian restaurant, I'm going to help spread gelatin.
It wasn't that I'd received a large amount of gelatin and was doing this as a favor so that "gelatin dishes would become popular among the nobility." I simply thought it would be nice if delicious food became popular.
I'd already experienced how the jiggly texture of puddings and jellies wasn't very well received, so when releasing the reward recipe, I used Korde's mousse tart to demonstrate how it could be combined with last year's reward.
Today's cake was specially prepared to gauge the reaction from the Central region. Sponge cakes still had occasional failures, making them difficult to prepare in large quantities for big tea parties. I planned to bring them to a small tea party with royals.
"The texture might be unfamiliar, so I used honey and yogurt—flavors you already know—for the taste. How is it?"
The honey mousse softened the strong tang of the yogurt. Since I'd cut the mousse thin and sandwiched it between sponge layers, the texture shouldn't be too off-putting.
"Indeed, it's a texture I've never experienced before. It just sort of dissolves in your mouth—delicious."
"...Would it be alright to serve this to royalty?"
"I think it would be fine if the appearance were a bit more elegant, but the taste should be no problem."
Since Hirschur gave it a passing grade, I wanted to think more about the presentation. If I decorated it with the reddish jams from Korde and Lutterve, the combination of white and red would make it feel very wintery.
After finishing the dessert—which also served as a tasting preview for the tea party—we moved to another room. This time, the people involved were essentially only the directly concerned parties and the lord candidates who had an obligation to report to the Aub: Filine and
Six seats were prepared, and once the Attendants had served tea, Hirschur instructed them and the guard knights to step back.
"I won't have everyone leave, but I would like to use a Magical Tool to prevent eavesdropping. Please activate this, Rozemyne."
"Huh? ...Me?"
She handed me a range-type anti-eavesdropping Magical Tool, and I couldn't help but stare at Hirschur. These Magical Tools were normally activated using the magic of whoever brought them.
"You must have enough Magic Power to spare, given how you could keep channeling blessings through an entire song during the music practical, correct? When your Magic Power is dangerously low, blessings won't spill out like that on their own. It happens because you have a surplus."
When Hirschur put it that way, I infused the range-targeting Magical Tool with Magic Power and set it up as instructed. The Magic Power consumption really was significantly reduced—it barely felt like I was using any.
...It was just like after using Jureve, when I couldn't do fine-tuned control anymore. Maybe I should have released some Magic Power into the Dedication Ritual and the fight against the Lord of Winter this year after all?
Sighing, I finished setting everything up and took my seat. Hirschur looked around at everyone present.
"Now then, since we have Charlotte here, who didn't participate in the ceremony, and although I've heard from
Hirschur explained the previous day's ceremony to primarily Charlotte, covering Wilfried, Filine, and Roderick's experiences. However, she didn't mention my ceremony at all. If the three of them had unusual ceremonies, mine should have been even more abnormal. I glanced at Hirschur, but she seemed to be treating my ceremony as if it had never happened.
"After Filine returned to the lecture hall with her increased affinities, what kind of conversation did you have with Gundolf?"
We recalled and supplemented the conversation we'd had in the lecture hall, which Hirschur listened to with nods.
Once we'd finished the story, Charlotte tilted her head in puzzlement.
"But it's a ceremony for receiving the gods' blessings, so receiving blessings from divine retainers doesn't seem that surprising, does it...?"
Charlotte's opinion was the same as ours. Unless it was something like Roderick suddenly gaining all attributes, it wasn't worth being that shocked about. In response to our opinion, Hirschur sighed and said, "Let me explain the case of ordinary nobles, excluding apprentice knights and Dunkelfelgers who receive blessings from battle-type divine retainers."
"Normally, you only receive blessings from the Great God corresponding to your affinity. As far as I've investigated, unless a dorm supervisor was deliberately hiding it, no one has received blessings from non-battle divine retainers in over a decade."
"Huh?"
We'd been told it was rare, but I hadn't thought it was that rare. Our eyes widened as we looked at each other in surprise, and Hirschur continued.
"In the past, those who received blessings from multiple divine retainers were mostly royals and lord candidates. It was extremely rare for middle- or lower-class nobles to receive blessings from divine retainers—you'd have to go back about a hundred years to find an example."
"Filine and Roderick really are something."
"...I need you to understand just how abnormal this Ehrenfest situation is."
Glared at by Hirschur, I nodded. I understood. I didn't know the cause, but I did grasp that something was off.
"Dunkelfelgers and apprentice knights do receive blessings from battle-type divine retainers, but we don't know why, and it's virtually unheard of for anyone else to receive such blessings. However, there's no absolute precedent against it, so Wilfried receiving blessings from many divine retainers will be met with surprise and admiration, but that's as far as it goes."
Hirschur noted, "After all,
"However, Filine's case is different. Filine is a lower-class noble with no wind affinity and no blessing from Stuerlia—she increased her affinities solely through the blessing of
Filine and Roderick's expressions clouded. They'd been simply happy about gaining new affinities, but they clearly hadn't considered that it might be this significant.
"Hirschur, what about me?"
I'd received blessings from many divine retainers too, and the statues of the gods had moved—but just how rare was that? In response to my question, Hirschur waved her hand dismissively.
"You being off the charts is nothing new, and I already know all about it, so it doesn't matter."
"No, it very much does matter!"
It was Wilfried who immediately interjected. At the
However, Hirschur brushed him off lightly and smiled with a completely resigned expression.
"Any issues involving Rozemyne should be directed to Ferdinand, so that two similarly off-the-charts individuals can handle it together. Since there's someone who understands a similar situation, Rozemyne's cleanup is outside my jurisdiction."
"You're the dorm supervisor of Ehrenfest! Saying it's outside your jurisdiction is terrible!"
When I protested, asking her to please get involved, Hirschur's smile deepened and she shook her head.
"I refuse. I learned my lesson from Ferdinand that dealing with it sincerely only makes us look like fools. He's asked me to help conceal troublesome matters and to accommodate things as much as possible on the lecture side, but please handle your own cleanup."
...Ferdinand got me abandoned by Hirschur!
Hirschur continued regardless of my lamenting.
"The issue for me isn't Rozemyne, who was obviously off the charts from the start—it's that Rozemyne's influence is starting to spread to those around her."
As she spoke, Hirschur alternately looked at Filine and Roderick.
"Yesterday, eight Ehrenfest students participated in the blessing ceremony. Of those, half—four—received blessings corresponding to their affinities as normal and finished the ceremony without incident. The abnormal cases were Rozemyne, Wilfried, Filine, and Roderick. Don't you notice the common thread?"
When Hirschur pointed this out, I desperately searched for a commonality. The gender split was even, and our statuses were different. Was there something?
"...I have no idea. Is there something they have in common besides being from Ehrenfest?"
"Rozemyne herself, Rozemyne's close attendants, and Rozemyne's fiancé—they're all people connected to Rozemyne."
"Ah, now that you mention it, of course!"
Wilfried clapped his hands with a look of realization, but I wanted to deny this with every fiber of my being.
"Don't jump to the conclusion that it's my fault right away!"
However, no one agreed with me. Even Charlotte and Filine somehow seemed convinced by Hirschur's unsettling hypothesis.
"Whenever an unexpected change occurs in Ehrenfest, Rozemyne is usually at the center of it, so I'm quite confident."
"Ngh..."
Unable to refute, I fell silent. Hirschur then looked at me with a serious expression.
"In receiving the gods' blessings, I believe you must be doing something that other nobles are not. Can you think of anything?"
"Something that's necessary for receiving the gods' blessings but that other nobles don't do? If that's the case, then yes, I can think of something."
"You can!?"
When I answered, everyone around me leaned forward with wide eyes.
"Huh? Huh? Everyone except Charlotte should know, right? We were talking about it in the lecture hall. I don't understand why Hirschur or Gundolf didn't think of it. It's written right there in the reference books."
"What is it that you're doing to receive the gods' blessings, Rozemyne?"
Hirschur pressed me with an eager intensity, and I leaned back slightly as I answered. "Prayers."
"P-prayers, did you say?"
"Yes. I'm the High Priest, so I regularly offer prayers to the gods and also make Magic Power offerings."
After saying that, I looked around at everyone present.
"Filine and Roderick are my close attendants in my capacity as High Priest, so they come and go to the
However, by observing divine artifacts up close and channeling Magic Power through them, the skilled Hartmut and brother Cornelius had learned to create Everilde swords. They'd said it wouldn't be practical for battle due to the massive Magic Power required, but
"...The Ehrenfest Temple has changed quite significantly, hasn't it? It's completely different from what I know of temples."
"We've been putting in effort in many ways."
I puffed out my chest proudly, then turned my gaze to Wilfried and Charlotte.
"Also, both brother Wilfried and Charlotte have assisted with my religious duties, traveling through the direct territories to conduct the Dedication Ritual and Harvest Festival ceremonies, offering prayers. And when supplying Magic Power to the foundation of Ehrenfest, we also offer prayers. Other duchies don't do this, right?"
"Now that you mention it, she did say something about that."
Hirschur nodded, blinking several times.
"It's written in both the reference books and the Holy Book that offering prayers to the gods is how you receive blessings. If the nobles of other duchies avoid the Temple and don't sincerely offer prayers, then failing to receive blessings is a natural consequence."
Just like Angelica, who couldn't remember the names of the gods and didn't receive blessings, I believed those who didn't pray sincerely would only receive minimal blessings.
"Our understanding was different, then. The words in the reference books—'offer prayers to the gods'—weren't describing the method for the blessing ceremony but rather a lifestyle habit to incorporate into daily life."
Hirschur let out a sigh.
"Yes. Of the divine retainers whose blessings I received yesterday, most were gods I had prayed to before, and I've never received blessings from gods I've never prayed to."
As I said this, I gently touched my cheek.
"If you were to ask Hannelore whether she regularly prays to
"...That might indeed be useful."
Hirschur said she would ask around in Dunkelfelger, where the most people received blessings from multiple divine retainers, then her expression turned somewhat serious.
"I understand Wilfried's blessings from divine retainers and Filine's increase in affinities. Filine spent time in the Temple—a place for praying to the gods—conducting intellectual activities and praying for Mestionora's blessing. However, that doesn't explain Roderick's all-attribute case. Do you have any thoughts on this as well?"
At Hirschur's words, Roderick clenched his fist and looked down.
"It's not that I have no idea. However, I'm not sure whether it's alright to share this publicly. I'd like to consult with the Aub first and then give you an answer."
"...If you didn't consult within yesterday, the Aub must be busy?"
Hirschur asked this while looking at the lord candidates in turn. Right—Father was probably worked to the bone right now dealing with the purge and sentencing decisions for the former
"All Aubs are busy during the winter social season."
"I'd like to have a talk with him once he has some free time."
"Huh?"
I hadn't expected Hirschur—who had been avoiding the Aub, if anything—to say she wanted to talk, and I blinked.
"What would you like to discuss?"
Without answering my question, Hirschur turned her gaze to Wilfried.
"What happens when the gods' blessings increase? Please answer, Wilfried."
"Your Magic Power consumption decreases, and magic of that affinity becomes easier to cast."
"Correct. And Filine—what happens when your Magic Power increases?"
"You can use larger-scale magic. Or, if you use it bit by bit, you can sustain it for longer."
After saying "Correct," Hirschur fixed me with a stare.
"Rozemyne, you claimed to have invented a compression method. In practice, about half of Ehrenfest's students are increasing their Magic Power more efficiently than students from other duchies. And this year, a method for increasing blessings has been discovered. If what you said is true, then going forward, only Ehrenfest students will be able to receive blessings from multiple divine retainers."
With magic compression increasing Magic Power itself, and increased blessings improving efficiency, they would be able to perform several times the amount of magic they could before.
"Being able to increase divine retainer blessings is a matter of tremendous significance for all of
"...Aren't methods for increasing Magic Power and blessings supposed to be kept secret?"
Hirschur affirmed that "in principle, yes," then let her purple eyes gleam.
"...Do you all know what kind of impression Ehrenfest currently has?"
When we relayed the reports we'd heard after the Lord's Conference, Hirschur murmured, "He's not the kind of Aub who hides what's inconvenient for him, is he?"
"To be frank, Ehrenfest—having ended the civil war neutrally, emerging virtually unscathed while boosting its own duchy's results, continuously launching new trends, and pushing its way into the upper duchies—is not well regarded by other duchies."
On top of that, there were terrible rumors about Aub Ehrenfest as well. Hirschur said they had increased sharply over the past few years, proportional to the rise in academic results.
"If Ehrenfest monopolizes not only Magic Power but also blessings, it won't look good to the Central region either. You understand that, right? That's precisely why I suggest presenting your method of receiving blessings to ease the surrounding sentiment. It would also contribute to the Central region."
"I can't decide this on my own—I'd need to discuss it with Father."
"Yes. Please have a thorough discussion about it."
Hirschur let out a breath that seemed somewhat relieved, then called out to me.
"Rozemyne, as Ferdinand's beloved disciple, you attract a great deal of attention."
Apparently, in the Central region, many believed that Ferdinand was the one pulling the strings behind the Saint legend, and with Ferdinand now off to Ahrensbach, many people were trying to dig into me instead. They suspected I might have received some important information from Ferdinand.
"However, since Rozemyne rarely appears at social gatherings, there's very little information available. Even I have been summoned several times and asked all sorts of questions—about the two of you, Ferdinand and Rozemyne..."
Everyone present swallowed hard.
"
"Eglantine is?"
"She is no longer of
Seeing that Hirschur's attitude hadn't changed one bit, I finally understood why Ferdinand had trusted her.
"...I should probably stay away from the Library too. The new Senior Librarian, Ortensia, is the first wife of the Knight Commander from the Central region."
What was natural prayer to Rozemyne was not natural at all for nobles who didn't enter the Temple.
And whether to publicize the method of receiving blessings or not—I'd need to discuss it with Father.
I just hoped his brain wouldn't explode.
Hirschur sharing information from the Central region was her way of reaching out.
Next: the lord candidates' lectures.