Preparing for the Inter-Dominion Tournament

Georgine's possible connection to someone in the capital had come to light, and as I grew anxious, Leonore smiled gently at me.

"I understand why you're worried, Lady Rozemyne, but handling such matters is the Aub's responsibility. As a candidate for lord, shouldn't you be thinking about the Inter-Dominion Tournament rather than this? While you've been bedridden, preparations have been drawing ever closer."

Brünhilde nodded in agreement with Leonore's words.

"Yes. You formed connections with the Zent through the Dedication Ritual, and there are joint research projects with three of the major duchies as well. You'll likely have more guests than last year, so preparations will be demanding."

"Rozemyne, those two are right. Leave the judgments to Father, and let us focus on our preparations for the Inter-Dominion Tournament. How is the joint research with Ahrensbach progressing?"

At Wilfried's question, I shifted my mood slightly. As everyone said, I needed to tackle the challenges before me.

"I've read the letter that arrived from Ahrensbach, and we'll begin once Richarda receives permission to go out. The presentations and exhibitions will mostly take place in Ahrensbach, so there's little for me to be directly involved in."

While I'd been bedridden, a letter had arrived through Ehrenfest's border gate. The main correspondence was from Letizia, but it also contained a letter from Ferdinand. Since my excitement and fever tended to rise together, I'd been told to wait until I was feeling better before opening Ferdinand's letter.

"And how is the joint research with Drewanchel?"

Wilfried and Charlotte explained the progress on the Drewanchel joint research. Wilfried, who had already held coordination meetings with Dunkelfelger for their joint research, had taken the lead in arranging the presentation schedule with Drewanchel.

"The shared aspects—Ehrenfest's magic paper properties, methods for improving quality, and current applications—will be presented as common research content."

"And for the parts involving magical tools and new inventions, each duchy will present separately."

It was a similar division to the Dunkelfelger joint research. Not having all the research results seized by the greater duchies, and being able to present in each duchy, was a good thing.

"I'm glad it didn't end up being a Drewanchel-only presentation. What new inventions does Ehrenfest have? I haven't received any reports, so I'm not quite sure."

I had pitched the idea of creating a musical instrument that played music automatically and looked toward Marianne. Marianne averted her gaze awkwardly.

"...The instrument that plays music is something Drewanchel has already begun researching. We did try researching it as well, but their version is superior."

It seemed my idea had been beaten to the punch. Marianne and Ignaz explained apologetically. Apparently, what Ehrenfest could present as its own research was limited to inferior versions of Drewanchel's work. I could tell they were crestfallen—having been given the grand stage of a joint research project with a greater duchy, they hadn't been able to produce particularly impressive results.

"Your Ladyship, please don't blame them too much. This is their first time doing joint research with a greater duchy, and they did their best. It's just that Drewanchel happened to surpass their results."

Charlotte tried to shield the two of them, and I shook my head, making it clear I had no intention of blaming anyone.

What I'd wanted was to learn how to improve the quality of magic paper and raise the value of paper produced in Ehrenfest. The basic elements that could be jointly presented met the minimum requirements, so that was fine.

"Still, it is a bit lonely to have absolutely no attention-grabbing inventions. Since we have the opportunity, why don't we make a book that automatically returns to its bookshelf? Just improve the quality of Nansere paper as much as you reasonably can. If we can make Nansere paper of sufficient quality to move books, the magic circle itself already exists."

If I combined the magic circle that Laimunt had taught me with it, I figured that even if we couldn't move the heavy books of other duchies, we could at least move Ehrenfest's thin, lightweight books. If a book placed at a slight distance automatically returned to its bookshelf, even a demonstration would be eye-catching.

"As for other ideas... Since Drewanchel is raising quality and building instruments that play music, what about creating a music-playing magical tool that conserves enough magic power that even commoners could use it?"

I'd heard that there were stone shops in the lower town, and that junk magic stones were easy for commoners to obtain. If we could produce music with junk magic stones, like an organ, then even at a high-end Italian restaurant with a fancy orientation that was difficult for traveling bards to visit, we could still have music playing.

If we made it like a music box where customers paid to purchase magic stones on the spot and could listen to their favorite songs, we could enjoy music without straining the restaurant's finances.

...Well, music boxes and organs could be made without magical tools too, but if I ordered one now, poor Johann would probably die of exhaustion.

Once things calmed down with printing, I might consider ordering one, but Johann was on a long-term assignment, spending more than half the year away from home teaching metal typesetting and printing to other duchies. More importantly, I wanted to prioritize spreading printing over music.

"Make it so that even commoners can use it simply by providing sheet music and attaching a magic stone. Ideally, I'd like one small junk magic stone to play one or two songs."

As I babbled on, voicing ideas one after another in the same way I did when consulting with Laimunt and Zack, Wilfried raised his hand to cut me off.

"Rozemyne, springing all this on them suddenly is putting them in a difficult position."

Looking more closely, I could see that Marianne and Ignaz had gone a bit pale. But if even third-year me could think of several approaches, I didn't think I was asking anything too difficult of the two senior scribe apprentices. I inadvertently turned to look at my own scribe apprentices.

"We can conserve magic power by using simpler magic circles or adding auxiliary magic circles, and we already know that writing sheet music and sliding a magic stone across it produces sound, so it shouldn't be that difficult, right?"

Receiving my gaze, Roderich and Philine, who had been taking notes on their writing boards, pondered for a moment.

"What Lady Rozemyne described is an application of the magic circle Laimunt taught you, correct? And you'd combine it with Aifon paper? Since it's meant to be usable by commoners, they might be overthinking the difficulty, but the construction itself should be quite simple."

"If we improve the quality of the ink used to write sheet music, couldn't that also conserve the magic stone's power?"

As Roderich and Philine, who had watched Laimunt's and my research up close in Hirschur's lab, voiced their ideas, Marianne and Ignaz's faces had completely changed color.

"...We'll do it."

Once this was completed, it would no longer be a research project with absolutely no original inventions or discoveries. I was excited to see what the results would be.

"How is the joint research with Dunkelfelger progressing? It seemed like you were moving forward while Your Ladyship was bedridden..."

At Charlotte's question, Philine and Muriella stepped forward. It was Philine who began the explanation.

"The shared content with Dunkelfelger has already been compiled. What remains is the section on Ehrenfest's rituals. We plan to add the feedback from ritual participants that Lady Charlotte gathered at her tea party. Also, there was a report yesterday—a senior scribe apprentice among the ritual participants has received a new blessing from a patron deity, so we're rushing to include that in the research presentation as well."

"Someone received a blessing during the time since the Dedication Ritual?"

Charlotte's surprised voice made Muriella smile warmly.

"It was Lady Rülladi of the Joisbrenner. At the time of the Dedication Ritual, Lady Rülladi was the only third-year student who hadn't yet completed the ceremony to receive her blessing. On the advice of those around her, she prayed continuously right up until the final exams."

Upper-class nobles tended to finish their lectures relatively early. Because of that, among the senior scribe apprentices who had participated in the Dedication Ritual, all except Rülladi had already completed the ceremony. Having not yet done so, and encouraged by those around her, she decided to try praying right up to the wire.

"Just as Drewanchel had done, Rülladi made a charm and prayed with great sincerity. ...To Brunf, the Goddess of Spring's Sprouting."

"...She prayed to quite a rare goddess, didn't she?"

Brunf, the Goddess of Sprouting, was very active in my mother's love stories, but as a target for prayers to receive blessings, she was extremely obscure. If the scribes were choosing, the Goddess of Wisdom, Mestionora, should have been the most popular choice—just as all of Drewanchel had prepared charms.

At my remark, Muriella explained with a wry smile.

"She prayed fervently, hoping to encounter a wonderful love story."

...She wasn't praying for her own budding romance, was she?

I found myself feeling a strange kinship with Rülladi, who valued love stories over her own love life. She was probably just like me—a hopeless bookworm who preferred stories to romance.

"Perhaps it was because she prayed with such singular devotion, focusing on exactly what she wanted. Or perhaps, as an upper-class noble, she poured a great deal of magic power into her prayers. Since she originally had an aptitude for water, the blessing may have come easily. Lady Rülladi received Brunf's blessing in this remarkably short time. I believe this is an outstanding achievement."

By dedicating magic power and praying with sincere devotion, it had been proven that even upper-class nobles from other duchies could receive blessings. This was indeed a major achievement for Ehrenfest's research. I wanted to hear the details from Rülladi and include her account in the research results.

"Those around her had hoped she would receive the blessing of a different deity, but she herself was overjoyed. She was eager to personally thank Lady Rozemyne."

She might be a little unconventional, but there were no bad people who loved books. Rülladi must be a good person too. We'd only spoken briefly at the tea party, so I didn't remember her face well, but I did remember the book she'd lent me.

It was a love story written in an ancient language. Even more deities appeared than in my mother's tales, and divine comparisons were used in the compliments men paid to women—whether these were meant as literal actions or mere figures of speech, deciphering it must have been incredibly difficult.

...She was a die-hard love story fan, wasn't she? She'd probably get along great with Muriella.

Then I reconsidered. They were probably already friends—that was precisely how Muriella had obtained the information about Rülladi's new blessing.

"Lady Rozemyne, as thanks for her cooperation in our research, may I lend Lady Rülladi a new love story from the Noble Academy?"

Muriella spoke up hesitantly. I was pretty sure what I'd lent her at the tea party had been a knight story leaning toward romance, not an actual Noble Academy love story. New books were always prioritized for the higher-ranking duchies' lord candidates, so upper-class nobles like Rülladi from a middle-ranking duchy rarely got access to new releases. She'd probably been looking forward to a new Noble Academy love story.

I completely understood the excitement of anticipating a new book.

The joy of reading a book, exchanging thoughts with a friend, and getting excited together.

It had been a common sight during my time as Reina.

My heart warmed softly.

The image of Muriella and Rülladi looking at a book together and laughing floated into my mind.

For someone who had worked to create books, it was truly a heartwarming sight.

"The Joisbrenner are busy with their own Inter-Dominion Tournament preparations, yet they've been kind enough to help us with our research. Of course, that's perfectly fine. She'll surely appreciate experiencing Brunf's blessing firsthand."

After finishing the discussion about joint research, it was decided that Wilfried would draft the question letters to Ehrenfest. Once the meeting concluded, I returned to my room.

"Philine, please bring me the letter that arrived from Ahrensbach."

The letter from Letizia in Ahrensbach contained what seemed like an assignment from Ferdinand. She was apparently practicing writing the roundabout, aristocratic prose typical of noble correspondence. At the same time, I'd been given an assignment of my own—I had to write a reply that could serve as a model for Letizia.

...Preparing for the Inter-Dominion Tournament was keeping me busy, and now I had the tedious task of crafting a response in aristocratic language.

I puffed up my cheeks a bit to show my displeasure, but it had been a while since I'd last written back to Ferdinand, so my spirits were rising. While I'd been bedridden, I couldn't even retreat to the hidden room, so Philine had read the parts written in regular ink for me.

On the surface, the letter covered how to handle graphs in the research presentation, the instructions I'd given Laimunt, and the schedule from the Inter-Dominion Tournament through to the graduation ceremony. Ferdinand was planning to stay in Ehrenfest's tea party room on the night of the Inter-Dominion Tournament.

"Richarda, the Aub has given permission for Ferdinand to use the tea party room, hasn't he?"

While Philine went to retrieve the letter, I talked with Richarda. Apparently, Ferdinand, Justus, Eckhart, and one of Ahrensbach's attendants—four people in total—would be staying in the tea party room.

"It's been approved by Ehrenfest, so the Aub's permission was granted at the same time. Lord Sylvester had wanted to prepare a room in the dormitory, but with Ahrensbach's attendant included, there was nothing to be done. Preparing long chairs was quite a task."

Ferdinand was technically still stationed in Ahrensbach, but since he hadn't yet completed his marriage, he was in the complicated situation of formally belonging to Ehrenfest. Because of this, Detlinde had issued an instruction that he should stay in Ehrenfest's dormitory.

...The reason, apparently, was that Detlinde had heard stories about my mother's Noble Academy love stories and had grown enamored of the scenario where an escort arrives on the morning of the graduation ceremony to pick someone up.

The Ahrensbach nobles, afraid of information leaking from Ferdinand—who was already involved in official duties—had objected, but Detlinde apparently flashed the magic stone he had dedicated to her and stubbornly refused to budge, saying, "But Lord Ferdinand promised to grant my wishes, didn't he?"

"...I'm delighted to have Ferdinand here, but sleeping on long chairs in the tea party room—that can't be good for recovering from fatigue, can it?"

"It's to prevent suspicion of information leaks that could worsen his standing in Ahrensbach, so there's nothing to be done about it."

The only area in Ehrenfest where Ahrensbach's attendant could enter and exit was the tea party room. Incidentally, if permission hadn't been granted in Ehrenfest, he would have had to spend the night in Hirschur's research lab. He had written that he wanted to avoid that at all costs, since spending the night in the lab would inevitably lead to an all-night research discussion with Hirschur.

...If they got caught up in research talk and started working together again after so long, the graduation ceremony escort would probably be the last thing on anyone's mind.

"Besides long chairs, what else would be needed? If they're spending the night on long chairs in the tea party room, I want Ferdinand to be as comfortable as possible."

While I was thinking, Richarda gave a wry smile.

"I imagine we'd also need screens and wooden chests for luggage, but please leave those preparations to the attendants. More importantly, your Ladyship, when writing your reply, don't forget to add a note requesting that you bring a storage box so that food can be added. I'll have the castle cooks prepare it and arrange for it to be sent over."

Richarda was probably looking forward to one of the few chances to see her son Justus as well. She seemed quite enthusiastic. The students were busy with Inter-Dominion Tournament preparations, so the preparations for welcoming Ferdinand would be handled by the attendants who had accompanied the students, starting with Richarda.

"Lady Rozemyne, here is the letter from Ahrensbach."

"Thank you, Philine. Philine and the others, please work on the research presentation preparations."

"Yes. We'll do our best with the graphs too."

Ferdinand's reply stated that while using graphs was acceptable, I should limit them to things my scribe apprentices could fully understand. As a lord candidate, I had to prioritize socializing, so the presentation would be conducted by my scribe apprentices. We needed to make sure they were prepared to handle any questions about the graphs.

Additionally, it seemed that presentations using graphs were indeed groundbreaking, and there was a risk that the graphs themselves would draw more attention than the actual research.

...I didn't think it could draw more attention than a ceremony involving royalty, though.

As I thought this, I hugged the letter to my chest and headed for the hidden room.

"I'll be in the hidden room for a while."

Although Philine had already read it once, I reread the reply written on the surface. There was also quite a bit about the joint research with Ahrensbach. It had taken a while, but the report sent via Frauelm had apparently reached Ferdinand as well.

...But there were more questions about Schwartz and the others' research than about the joint research.

He must really be starving for research. Schwartz and the others' research had been completely handed over to Hirschur, so I didn't have the details. Once Richarda received permission to go out, I should probably check on the progress of that research before replying.

Incidentally, the light-ink letter contained questions like: "Did you guide the royalty to the library? You didn't go in yourself, did you? Also, how is the joint research with Dunkelfelger and Drewanchel? Your letters suddenly cut off—I trust you're not doing anything you can't report?" I could already picture Ferdinand tapping his temple in exasperation.

...This was bad.

Come to think of it, I didn't think I'd sent any letters since around the time I'd guided the royalty to the archive. Small things had kept piling up, and I hadn't known how to put it all into writing.

...Well, I supposed I'd had a tiny bit of reluctance because I didn't want to be scolded, too.

"Hmm, should I honestly write everything now and face his anger at the Inter-Dominion Tournament, or wait until we meet at the tournament and explain then, which will still make him angry... Either way, I'll get scolded. For now, let me prioritize writing the things I'm likely to get praised for."

When we met again, I would get praised first. Then I would explain the content that was likely to earn his displeasure. Otherwise, from the moment we reunited until we parted, it would be nothing but lectures.

I wrote down things from our shared knowledge that were likely to earn praise, without using the light ink. Things like conducting the Dedication Ritual at the Noble Academy and donating magic power to royalty, learning to use two Stab staffs, and doing my best in the Ditter against Dunkelfelger—all inoffensive topics.

"That should do it. I won't get scolded right off the bat, right? Yeah."

Tomorrow, I'd need to go to Hirschur's lab to finalize the presentation plans with Laimunt and pick up the copies of Schwartz and the others' research.

"There's not much daylight left. I've got to get moving."

Preparing for the Inter-Dominion Tournament. This year was all about compiling joint research. Rülladi had received a blessing. And a reply had come from Ferdinand. Next up were Laimunt's research and information from other duchies.