Magic Stone Collection

"Your lectures are more important, so please prioritize Lady Hannelore's schedule above all else."

Having been told this by Solange in advance, I had Brünhilde set up the tea party schedule and send an invitation to Hannelore. According to Brünhilde, the first date proposed had overlapped with Hannelore's sociology class, so she had declined and a different day was arranged. Still, the Book Lovers' Tea Party schedule was successfully finalized.

"We must also deliver an invitation to Professor Solange."

When Brünhilde said that, I immediately set about creating the invitation and headed to the Library with a light step.

...Yay. I get to have a tea party with Professor Solange and Lady Hannelore.

It was a Book Lovers' Tea Party to be held in the Library's administrative office. I could tell my own excitement was building by the moment. I needed to be careful not to get too carried away.

"Lady's come."

"Lady, read book?"

"Ah, Rozemyne really has come, hasn't she?"

When I entered the Library, Schwarz and Weiss greeted me. Lately, Hildbrand had been tagging along with them quite often. He apparently came almost every day, doting on Schwarz and Weiss to his heart's content before heading home.

According to information from Schwarz and Weiss, Hildbrand was extremely bored. While he sometimes borrowed reference books on par with what first-years would take out, he apparently said there were very few books he could actually read. I felt sorry that he wanted to read but had so few books available to him, so I was in the process of sending a letter to Ehrenfest asking whether it would be permissible to lend him some of the children's books I had created.

"Good day, Prince Hildbrand."

After greeting Hildbrand, I made my way over to Solange. Solange had laughed about how her duties these past few days had been devoted to welcoming royalty, making every day tense. She seemed to have gotten somewhat used to it now, though, since she knew Schwarz and Weiss were the ones Hildbrand was after.

"Professor Solange, the Library tea party has been scheduled."

I took the invitation I'd had Brünhilde prepare and handed it over, and Solange took it happily with a smile.

"My, how delightful. ...Four days from now, then."

Solange, who tended to be cooped up in the Library and had little interaction with other professors during winter when students were present, had told me how much she enjoyed last year's tea party, which only made me more enthusiastic about the preparations. As Brünhilde and I exchanged glances and smiled, a young voice cut in.

"There's a tea party in four days?"

Hildbrand, who apparently had followed along with Schwarz and Weiss, tilted his head as he spoke.

"In that case, should I refrain from visiting the Library?"

Since Schwarz and Weiss were working as usual in the reading room, I didn't think there was any problem with Hildbrand coming to see them. However, having a royal visit while we casually held a tea party in the administrative office didn't seem appropriate either.

...Should I ask him to stay away after all?

I decided to leave the judgment to Solange and looked at her. Solange rested a hand on her cheek in thought, then looked down at me.

"Lady Rozemyne, why not invite Prince Hildbrand as well? He has been registered as a collaborator, and I believe he also has matters to discuss with Lady Hannelore."

...Come to think of it. I'd vaguely had the impression that tea parties were gatherings for women, but if I considered it as a gathering of Library Committee members, it would make sense to have the prince there too.

Rather than the scenario where the prince just happened to be present when the Library Committee was established, gradually introducing Hildbrand's participation and informing Hannelore of his role as a collaborator during the tea party would reduce her surprise considerably.

As I nodded in understanding, I noticed Hildbrand directing his bright purple eyes, full of anticipation, toward Solange and me. I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't rashly told him to stay away, and turned a smile toward Hildbrand.

"I would very much like to send an invitation to Prince Hildbrand as well. It is a rather sudden invitation, but would that be an inconvenience?"

"No, I would be delighted. ...There aren't that many places within the Academy where I am permitted to move about freely."

Hildbrand beamed with bashful delight, but what about his attendant? I glanced toward the attendant. Maintaining a fixed smile, one of them shifted their gaze to Brünhilde.

"I would like to hear the details from Lady Rozemyne's attendant."

"...Brünhilde, please handle this."

"Very well."

Brünhilde, wearing a tense expression but still managing a smile, made her way over to Hildbrand's attendant. While feeling sorry for Brünhilde, who had ended up in conversation with a royal attendant, I turned my gaze back to Hildbrand.

"I've rarely had tea parties with anyone other than Mother, so I'm looking forward to it."

Hildbrand had only just completed his Baptism Ceremony, so he apparently had very little social experience. He said he'd only had tea parties a handful of times with his maternal relatives. If this would help stave off his boredom, then all the better.

"Rozemyne will be reading today as well, I assume? I'll be with Weiss, so please don't worry about me—go on up to the second floor."

After chatting a bit, it was time for reading. Hildbrand seemed to know very well how much I looked forward to reading, and after a brief conversation, he always encouraged me to go read—he was such a good boy. I thanked him, went up to the second floor, and began reading as usual.

Colorful lights suddenly cascaded down around me, and I raised my head. They indicated the exit time. The bell would ring soon. I asked Philine to return my books for me and left the Library for lunch. Hildbrand was already gone, and there were no other students in the Library—it was quiet.

As I was saying goodbye to Solange and Schwarz and the others and leaving the Library, the bell began to ring. Leaving the Library and heading toward the Central Building, I spotted a familiar face approaching at a brisk pace from that direction. It was Rhaimund, Hirschur's disciple, who had recently also become the Chief Priest's disciple.

"Lady Rozemyne."

Rhaimund's face lit up with joy when he noticed us. After asking permission to speak, he began eagerly bowing and expressing his gratitude.

"Hartmut told me that you, Lady Rozemyne, recommended that I be allowed to become Lord Ferdinand's disciple. I was only able to become Ferdinand's apprentice disciple because of you."

The setup had been arranged so that I could serve as a convenient bridge between the Chief Priest and Rhaimund. Since I was the only one who had actually met him face-to-face, having me be the one to make the recommendation carried more credibility than if Wilfried or Charlotte had done it.

"Apparently, if I send back answers to Lord Ferdinand's questions, I receive new research assignments, and he reviews my work for me."

Rhaimund seemed truly overjoyed by this. He showed off his research assignment from the Chief Priest with pride, saying he'd be sequestered in Hirschur's laboratory starting that afternoon. His radiant smile made it clear he was throwing himself into his work with everything he had.

"Rhaimund, when you finish the assignment, please contact me through Professor Hirschur. I'm the one responsible for sending it to Lord Ferdinand."

"Yes! I want to finish it as quickly as possible. Please send this to Lord Ferdinand. I've answered the questions."

Rhaimund apparently had also been given Plant Paper. Hartmut took the several sheets of paper that Rhaimund offered.

"I've received them. Well then, we'll be going."

As I began walking toward the Central Building, I could hear from the footsteps behind me that Rhaimund, filled with motivation, was running off toward the Scholars' Building.

When we returned to the dormitory, Hartmut immediately began reviewing Rhaimund's documents. I took a look as well, and found that it was a question-and-answer format about Ahrensbach, like some sort of geography exam. To Rhaimund, who was desperately trying to finish this test and secure some free time, it probably looked nothing more like examination questions from the Chief Priest. I could picture Rhaimund scraping together information with the frantic energy of someone solving problems in order to earn his next assignment.

"...With so little material to work with, yet managing to completely win over an invaluable source of information and getting him to gather intel with the desperate mindset of a student trying to pass an exam—that's a skill I really need to learn."

Hartmut murmured that in a dazed manner, astonished that Ahrensbach information—which was usually so difficult to obtain—had so effortlessly fallen into their hands.

"I'm going out to hunt magical beasts today."

On Earthday, as soon as breakfast was finished, Roderich and the knight apprentices from the Former Veronica Faction set off on their hunt. Hartmut had apparently pressured them, saying "If you're going to offer your name, do it quickly." The other children from the Former Veronica Faction had apparently also joined the hunt, saying "We haven't made up our minds yet, but we want to secure magic stones just in case."

"Roderich is a scholar, so please, please be careful."

"Yes, Lady Rozemyne."

After seeing Roderich and the others off, the attendants all gathered in a private room on the first floor—it was time to draft the response to Ehrenfest. When I'd reported yesterday that I'd invited Hildbrand to the tea party, an arrow-like barrage of questions had flown in from Ehrenfest: "How did that happen?" This had also happened when Hildbrand became a Library Committee member, but it looked like this morning would be spent entirely on drafting the response document.

"...But this time, it was Professor Solange who suggested inviting him. So the invitation itself wasn't wrong, was it? Wouldn't telling him to stay away have been the more discourteous thing to do?"

I needed to start by confirming just how badly my social skills had failed. When I asked Brünhilde, who had accompanied me to the Library when I invited Hildbrand, she made an indescribable expression.

"I was grateful that you agreed with Professor Solange by saying 'That's a fine idea,' but rather than approaching the royal yourself right then, you should have let the attendants begin the discussion among themselves. Next time, even if it's sudden, please leave the inviting to your attendants rather than doing it yourself, Lady Rozemyne."

"I understand. I'll do that from now on."

It was Brünhilde, who had been called over by Hildbrand's attendant and ended up doing the legwork for the tea party on the spot, who taught me the correct way to handle things. If she didn't start teaching me the proper methods, it would be the attendants who suffered, so recently she had shifted from saying "I think it would be better to do this" to "In this situation, please do it like this."

"But I did experience a tea party with royalty last year with Prince Anastasius, so I should be fine, right?"

"You have been invited, yes, but this is the first time you'll be doing the inviting, my lady. We have risen to the tenth rank, but that doesn't change the fact that we are who we are."

Richarda had pointed out with a sigh that there was a vast difference between attending an invitation and issuing one to royalty. Honestly, it seemed that the very idea of Ehrenfest hosting a tea party where royalty was invited was almost unthinkable.

"...We can't cancel now, can we?"

"Of course not."

"Besides, Prince Hildbrand was clearly expecting to be invited at that moment. So no matter how slightly different the process of inviting him may have been, the outcome would still be seen as an invitation."

Brünhilde murmured, "Prince Hildbrand's attendant looked quite apologetic as well." As a result of both Hildbrand and I—both lacking in social experience—acting on our own, it appeared that both sets of attendants had ended up having a difficult time. I felt terrible.

Hartmut and Philine were to compile the results of this discussion and send them to Ehrenfest. While the scholars prepared the response document, I worked with my attendants to finalize the details of the tea party.

"Lady Rozemyne, Roderich has returned injured!"

It was Brother Cornelius, who had been standing guard outside the door, who opened it and rushed in. Startled by the news, I stood up and immediately headed for the multipurpose hall.

Bursting into the multipurpose hall, I found Roderich nursing cuts and bruises not far from Charlotte and her attendants.

"Roderich, I heard you were injured."

"A powerful magical beast appeared."

While hunting, a powerful magical beast had appeared. Roderich had managed to dodge its attack, but he had been injured when he collided with another knight apprentice. "They told me to go back for reinforcements right away, so I came back alone."

As I turned to Brother Cornelius, Wilfried and the others burst in, fully armed.

"Don't worry. We'll head out immediately."

"Brother Wilfried."

It seemed they had begun preparations immediately upon Roderich's return, as Wilfried and his guard knights were already armed. Several of Charlotte's guard knight apprentices were with them as well. "The guard knight apprentices of the Archduke's family are the strongest, since they've learned Rozemyne's compression method and been trained by Lord Bonifatius."

Wilfried's magic power had increased as well, and being part of the Archduke's family, he already had a large amount of it. As a male, he participated in training with the other knight apprentices. As a result, Wilfried was to lead the knights on the rescue mission.

"Charlotte and Rozemyne, guard the dormitory. Rozemyne's guard knights—I want them to protect Charlotte too. We're heading out now."

"Understood."

"Please be safe, Brother."

Charlotte, her blue eyes wavering with worry, saw everyone off. I too watched Wilfried and the knight apprentices depart, then turned to face Roderich. Seeing his painful-looking wounds, I immediately brought out my staff.

"Heal Roderich with Lungenschmerz's power."

Green light from my staff enveloped Roderich gently, and his external wounds vanished with a soft whoosh. Perhaps it was his first time receiving healing, as Roderich's eyes went slightly wide and he stared at his own hands and legs.

"You should also drink a recovery potion to restore your magic power and stamina."

When I said that, Roderich touched the medicine pouch at his waist with an expression like he'd just remembered recovery potions existed, and took a big swig. Then he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you ever so much, Lady Rozemyne. The pain is gone."

"Roderich, what exactly happened? Please tell me what kind of magical beast appeared."

At my question, Roderich nodded and began to speak. The magical beast that appeared was apparently in the shape of a large black dog.

"On all fours, it was about the size of a large adult. However, when the beast moved, the surroundings changed. Trees would wilt and decay as though rotting black. Then, it had many eyes. The eyes where a normal dog would have them were large and red, and there were several smaller black eyes on its forehead too. When it was attacked, the color of its eyes changed..."

"Could it possibly be a Tarnisbeferen!?"

Leonore's blue eyes flew open and her voice turned sharp. It was rare for Leonore, who was quiet and reserved like a scholar even among knight apprentices, to raise her voice in such alarm.

"...What's a Tarnisbeferen? Is it a dangerous magical beast?"

Leonore, her expression still tense, nodded repeatedly at Brother Cornelius, who furrowed his brow in confusion.

"It's a magical beast that grows when it absorbs magic power. It has properties similar to the Trombe that appear in Ehrenfest, and I've seen in documents about magical beasts that it inhabits the southern regions of Yurgenschmidt. If you attack it carelessly, it activates and becomes more powerful!"

"What did you say!?"

Everyone present gasped and their eyes went wide. We might end up making the enemy grow massive while trying to defeat it. I recalled the Trombe that had grown explosively after absorbing my magic power, and a chill ran down my spine as I rubbed both my arms.

"But we'd notice right away if it was activating from being attacked, wouldn't we? If we use weapons blessed by the Blessing of Darkness, we can still attack, and Ehrenfest's knight apprentices should be fine, right?"

When I said this, recalling the knights who had defeated the Trombe, Leonore and Brother Cornelius turned to face me.

"Where are these weapons blessed by Darkness, Lady Rozemyne? We need to get them there right away!"

"What do you mean 'where'? The prayers channel the blessing into weapons transformed from your staff... Don't tell me you don't know about this!?"

Even as I spoke, thinking there was no way that could be true, Brother Cornelius, Leonore, Judith, and Charlotte's guard knight apprentices all shook their heads in unison.

"We don't know."

The blood drained from my face in an instant. Knight apprentices heading into battle in this state was far too dangerous. And if they attacked intending to suppress or rescue their allies, they would only end up feeding magic power to the enemy, making things terrible for everyone.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Lady Rozemyne. It's because I wanted a magic stone..."

When Roderich spat out that it was because he'd been thinking of offering his name to me that this had happened, I clenched my back teeth hard. Roderich's face had gone white, and regret was spilling from his eyes as tears, but he had done nothing wrong.

"I'll go."

"Lady Rozemyne!?"

"Sister!?"

The instant I stood up, everyone began protesting at once.

"It's too dangerous, Lady Rozemyne!"

"Please leave it to the knight apprentices!"

But I couldn't leave this to knight apprentices who didn't even know the prayers of the God of Darkness. I shook my head.

"I am the High Priestess. I know the prayers needed to obtain a god's blessing. I have to go to the scene and teach the prayers to everyone, or they'll all be in danger. ...Attendants, contact the professors. Charlotte, I'm entrusting the dormitory to you!"

Leaving only those words behind, I turned on my heel. While pouring magic power into the body-enhancing Magical Tool, I began running toward the rear entrance hall. Hartmut walked briskly alongside me as I ran, asking for permission to accompany me.

"Lady Rozemyne, please let me come with you. I've been training with the knight apprentices so I can protect you. I might be able to buy some time while the knight apprentices at the scene chant the prayers."

When I looked up at Hartmut, he nodded slightly. Philine, who had broken into a jog, called out "Lady Rozemyne, I..." but I cut her off immediately.

"Philine, you're staying behind. You have too little magic power—even if you chanted the prayers, you wouldn't be effective in combat."

As I was saying this, Brother Cornelius spoke up with a look of utter exasperation.

"Teach us the prayers, Lady Rozemyne, and then stay at the dormitory on standby."

"The prayers aren't short enough for you to memorize in one try, Brother Cornelius. We don't have time for this back-and-forth. If you keep complaining, I'll leave you behind to guard the dormitory!"

"That would be completely backwards!"

"Enough arguing—let's hurry."

I urged Brother Cornelius onward, and as we ran to the rear entrance hall, I looked up at the knights walking briskly around me.

"Can you all deploy your riding beasts while maintaining your staff's transformed state?"

"Of course we can."

"Then, transform your staffs now."

When everyone immediately brought out their staffs and transformed them into their respective weapons, I transformed mine into a water gun as well.

"Repeat the prayer after me."

"Yes!"

"O Darkness God, Supreme God who governs the vast, lofty heavens — O Father of all creation, who fashioned this world."

As I chanted the prayer while running, voices immediately joined mine in unison.

"Hear my prayer and grant unto me your sacred power — bestow upon my weapon your blessing that draws power from magic."

When we reached the rear entrance hall, Philine, who was staying behind, and Roderich, who had followed us, began to open the large doors. Keeping them in sight, I continued the prayer.

"All my magic power I offer unto you — may you banish the magic that strays from the circle, and bestow your divine protection upon us."

Then, while still chanting the prayer, I touched the magic stone of my riding beast with my free hand and deployed it. Everyone did the same, deploying their riding beasts and leaping aboard.

"Grant a moment of peace to the lives upon this land."

Each weapon, which had flashed brightly as the staffs transformed once more, immediately shifted into a state cloaked in a darkness-like black. As I mounted my lesser body, I looked back. I could see Philine looking worried and Roderich, his lips pressed together in frustration as tears spilled down his cheeks.

"Roderich, get on!"

"Huh?"

"It won't do for you to end up like this without even getting a magic stone. I've already decided to accept Roderich's name."

"But..."

Taking the hand of Roderich, who couldn't respond, Philine climbed onto the lesser body. Then, after seating Roderich on the lesser body, she smiled brightly.

"There's no way Lady Rozemyne, with the Blessing of Darkness, could lose. I told you we'd get magic stones and serve together, didn't I? Get your magic stone, Roderich."

Prince Hildbrand joins the tea party.

Rhaimund enthusiastically throws himself into his research.

And a dangerous magical beast appears during the magic stone collection.

Next time, they depart to slay the magical beast.