Headache-Inducing Reports (Year Two) — Part Two

"Scripture fundamentalists, huh… That's a troublesome topic."

Ferdinand tapped his fingertips lightly against his temples.

"To put it simply, they're a group that claims everything written in the Holy Book is the most correct, and that even the king should follow the Holy Book. Originally, their stance was that according to the Holy Book, seizing the throne by force through a coup is wrong. The throne is chosen by the gods and bestowed upon those who replicate the Grutrissheit. Therefore, they argued that all conflict should cease and everything should be left to the gods' selection — or at least, that was supposed to be what they stood for."

Ferdinand launched into a history so tedious it could put anyone to sleep, weaving in the evolution of the Scripture fundamentalists. Having just slogged through stacks of reports, having to endure a rapid-fire history lesson was too much. I waved my hand to cut him off.

"…That's enough, Ferdinand. So what kind of group are they now?"

"The Scripture fundamentalists with the most influence at present, if I recall correctly, were the ones who refused to recognize the current king, who does not possess the Grutrissheit. The king lost the Grutrissheit during the coup, didn't he?"

The Central Temple had tried to refuse the current king's accession on the grounds that he lacked the Grutrissheit. However, royalty and nobles had been drastically reduced in number, and nearly half of the important Magical Tools had ceased functioning. There was no way the country could survive without the king who had fought his way through the coup. Even if they rejected him, without a king, no budget would flow to the temples. The temples, isolated and full of people ignorant of the outside world, had reluctantly accepted the king's accession in the end.

"Though they preach 'follow the Holy Book,' many of them are really just after as much power as they can get. The king gathered blue priests and blue shrine maidens from each territory to silence the temples since he lacked the Grutrissheit, and the former High Priest was furious about that, apparently."

"I see. So it's a group that complains about the king to extract whatever benefits they can. In that case, it's not really a group that would get involved with Rozemyne."

The word "Holy Book" had made me instinctively wary, but Rozemyne was a child with no interest in power. She didn't even care about the position of next Lord, saying, "As long as I can have the library all to myself, that's fine. I don't want to become an annoying Lord." She wouldn't so much as glance at the kind of power that involved royalty.

"I need to prepare a response to Rozemyne's inquiry. According to the letter, she's finished all her lectures. If she buries herself in the library, the number of reports might decrease somewhat."

Ferdinand stood up, lightly tapping his temple as he spoke. It was unusual for him not to share the inquiry here.

"What kind of questions did Rozemyne ask this time?"

"Troubling ones about Hirschur. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Hirschur was Ferdinand's teacher, and in Ehrenfest, Ferdinand was the expert on Hirschur. Kalstedt and I saw Ferdinand off as he murmured, "How should I answer that…?"

*'After Big Sister headed to the library to decide the day for Schwarz and Weiss's outfit change, she came back and reported encountering Prince Hildebrand. Does this happen often? (Charlotte)'* *'Rozemyne was being optimistic, saying the prince doesn't operate publicly so there shouldn't be any future encounters. But I have a terrible feeling about this. (Wilfried)'* …You too, Father. I have a truly terrible feeling about this.

"So she did end up in contact with him."

"Why are you so calm about this, Ferdinand!?"

"…She's only come into contact with him. Nothing has happened yet. It's only going to start from here. If I fall apart now, I won't be able to survive the reports going forward. Pull yourself together, Sylvester."

"How can I stay calm after hearing such ominous words?! I'm even more worried now!"

Ferdinand, waving his hand dismissively, was far too composed. Royalty was getting involved. A prince who hadn't even enrolled yet — royalty who, under normal circumstances, Rozemyne should never have met.

"Troubles are going to accelerate from here. Just think back to last year and you'll understand. She got herself entangled in the marriage issues of royalty she was only supposed to see at social gatherings and dedication dances. Here, look at Hartmut's report. It'll make you even more anxious."

He handed over the report with a thin smile. It seemed Ferdinand was quite shaken after all.

*'After greeting Prince Hildebrand, Lady Rozemyne began reading, but the prince seemed interested in her, since she appears to be around the same age. He went out of his way to come up to the second floor to watch her read. (Hartmut)'* …Please, for the love of everything, don't get involved with our girl!

If I could scream, I would.

"Ferdinand, is there no way to prevent Rozemyne from encountering royalty?"

"She just finished all her lectures on the first day and only now has permission to go to the library. How could we possibly stop her? If we tried to seriously shut it down, the repercussions on everything else would be enormous. Do you want to repeat Wilfried's failure from last year?"

"Grr…"

I fell silent, remembering the chaos that had erupted around everyone when they got dragged into Rozemyne's rampage for the library's sake. Kalstedt shrugged helplessly as well.

"We can't stop Rozemyne from going to the library, and we certainly can't interfere with royalty. All we can do is pray that the prince, who's supposed to stay confined to his room, restrains himself and doesn't come near the library."

"Damn! Praying to the gods!"

"Lord of Ehrenfest, we have an urgent notice from the Noble Academy."

For something to interrupt mid-social engagement, it had to be truly urgent. I gripped the notice that had been delivered and immediately headed back to the office with Kalstedt. Ferdinand arrived shortly after.

"What's going on?"

"It seems your teacher has struck again."

*'Today, Lady Rozemyne went to see Professor Hirschur to ask about the library's Magical Tools. Her most beloved pupil turned out to be a mid-level scribe apprentice from Ahrensbach. The professor was planning to invite her to Schwarz and Weiss's outfit change the day after tomorrow, but how should we handle this? (Marianne)'* *'There is a danger that information about Ehrenfest could leak from Professor Hirschur to Ahrensbach through her pupil. Is there any problem with the materials we've provided to Professor Hirschur thus far? (Ignaz)'* *'Is there a good way to use Raimund, who has become a pupil, as our informant? He seems to have a relationship with Professor Gundolf as well, and research-related information appears to be flowing to Drewanchel too. (Hartmut)'* *'Raimund is apparently very capable when it comes to improvements. He corrected the magic circle I made. Also, he wanted to read Ferdinand's books. May I lend them to him? (Rozemyne)'* …Rozemyne! Why are you the only one with no sense of danger!? You're the one who was attacked by Ahrensbach!

I was driven by the urge to grab Rozemyne and shake her by the cheeks, screaming in frustration, when Kalstedt let out a deep sigh.

"Even though she's transferred her affiliation to the Central Temple, I wish Hirschur would show a bit more consideration toward Ehrenfest."

"Ehrenfest has never shown Hirschur any consideration, so don't say things that are convenient for you, Kalstedt."

Ferdinand glared at Kalstedt with a stern expression. Since taking Ferdinand as her pupil, Mother's harassment had extended to Hirschur as well. He could no longer spend time peacefully in his dormitory room and had started sleeping more often in his research lab. The support that was supposed to be provided to the dormitory supervisor from Ehrenfest had been confiscated by Mother's people and never reached Hirschur at all — Ferdinand stated this calmly and matter-of-factly.

This was the Noble Academy during my time after graduation — a past between Ferdinand and Hirschur that I had known nothing about. It was hard to reconcile with the Ferdinand I knew, who had consistently earned top marks, received personal praise from the king, forged connections with higher territories, and earned money selling Magical Tools and materials — making sums that didn't seem possible for a student.

"Support for the dormitory supervisor? If you knew about it, why didn't you say something after Mother was dealt with? How many years has it been!? Are you fine with having let your own teacher suffer?"

"Hirschur herself said she didn't need it. She said support that only got in the way of her raising her own pupil was unnecessary. She said that, and protected me while I was still a student at the Noble Academy."

That was why Ferdinand had held Hirschur in such high regard and had been providing personal support from the money he earned through Magical Tools. Now I understood why their bond as teacher and student had remained so deep even after graduation, and I couldn't hide my sigh.

"Ferdinand, please, tell me about important things like this. As the Lord, I'm mortified to be kept in the dark."

"…Your mother did many things, and they were all unpleasant. I didn't want to remember. Forgive me."

Ferdinand winced slightly, lowering his voice to a hoarse murmur. There was no way I could press further.

"…I forgive you."

Ferdinand exhaled and stood up. "I'm going to the Noble Academy."

"Wait, Ferdinand! Adults are basically not supposed to intervene."

That was exactly why, every time I read these reports, the headaches hit me with nowhere to vent except writing replies. But Ferdinand waved his hand dismissively.

"I have to go personally. The rules state that the creator must handle Magical Tool processing. And while I'm at it, I'll have a word with my old teacher. If anyone can get through to Hirschur, it's me. Am I wrong?"

He said he would retrieve the Magical Tools he'd left with Hirschur and settle matters to some extent.

"…Don't worry, Sylvester. I won't do anything that would disadvantage Ehrenfest…"

"That's not what I'm worried about. I was just thinking you might remember unpleasant things during your conversation with Hirschur. …Fine. I'll leave it to you."

"Aa, leave it to me."

Ferdinand submitted his request to the Noble Academy that same day, and by the following evening, he headed out accompanied by Eckhart and Justus. That night, he returned with a much refreshed expression, along with a massive haul of Magical Tools.

*'Today we changed Schwarz and Weiss's outfits. Since Lady Rozemyne gave her permission, I touched them for the first time. They were fluffy and adorable. The new outfits suited them perfectly as well. Partway through, Prince Hildebrand came to observe. By the time we noticed, the prince had become a Magic Power supplier. (Marianne)'* …During Schwarz and Weiss's outfit change, the prince just appeared out of nowhere and became a supplier?

"Wait a moment! Rozemyne is the master and royalty is the supplier!? No matter how you look at it, that's wrong!"

"I went to the Noble Academy yesterday to sort out this whole mess! How can a problem like this come up literally the day after?"

"Here, read this one too. My head's killing me."

Kalstedt handed me the report with a heavy thud. Then he pressed his fingers to his forehead and let out a low groan. Clutching the report that had flattened Kalstedt, I steeled myself and began reading.

*'Big Sister and Prince Hildebrand were having a wonderful conversation together. From what I observed, it appeared that Prince Hildebrand held favorable feelings toward Big Sister. Big Sister also seemed to hold favorable feelings toward the prince. Her expression when talking to him was clearly different. She gazed at him with sparkling eyes, as though looking at a book, and when asked what she thought of a younger nobleman, she said that Big Brother needed the magnanimity to allow her to like the library. (Charlotte)'* *'The prince seemed to like Schmuel, but it looked more like he was interested in Lady Rozemyne. Lady Rozemyne was completely enthralled talking about the Royal Library. Don't underestimate that. Charlotte also asked Lady Rozemyne whether she considered younger people unreliable. It appears the prince had mistaken Lady Rozemyne for Charlotte based on their heights, and Lady Rozemyne mistakenly believed the prince was interested in Charlotte. After that, she was asked to hand over the position of Magical Tool master. Since Prince Hildebrand, who cannot operate publicly, would have difficulty providing Magic Power, and Lady Rozemyne pointed out that even men can be called "hime-sama," the prince ended up providing Magic Power as a supplier. (Hartmut)'* *'Today we changed Schwarz and Weiss's outfits. Apparently, Professor Solange lives in the library. I was so envious. I'd like to live in the library in the future too. Oh, right. While we were changing Schwarz and Weiss's outfits, Prince Hildebrand showed up. I was asked to pass along a message to the prince, but unfortunately, Charlotte is a big-brother kind of girl and has no interest in younger people. I'd like her to become a big-sister kind of girl instead. (Rozemyne)'* "…Was Rozemyne in an entirely different world from everyone else?"

The report about Solange's living arrangements — which no one else had reported on — was the longest, followed by a rambling stream of future aspirations, and the report about the prince seemed almost incidental.

"Clearly, Rozemyne has no aptitude for socializing…"

"And now this situation is going to lead to more contact with royalty? Spare me."

Both Ferdinand and Kalstedt were pressing their temples hard.

"Ferdinand, can't you bring Rozemyne back? At least until the period when the prince frequents the library has passed…"

"She only just got permission to go to the library. …If she causes any more trouble, we'll issue a recall order."

The three of us held our heads in our hands, but this was still only the beginning of the upheaval.

"A question arrived from Rozemyne like this."

*'The library tea party will include Prince Hildebrand. Would it be all right to lend the prince Ehrenfest's knight stories? Is there anything I should be careful about?'"

"Rozemyne!? Why on earth are you inviting royalty to a tea party!? There are limits to not knowing your place!"

Inviting royalty was something Ehrenfest only did at lord conferences. Being invited to attend was one thing, but being the one doing the inviting required far more effort and was much more difficult. I had no choice but to say it was impossible for Rozemyne, who couldn't socialize properly.

"It's a library tea party, right? She'd only fuss over her book-loving friends and leave the royalty sitting there alone — that's the only scenario I can imagine."

I could easily picture Ferdinand's image in my head. Rozemyne would absolutely do that.

"Have the attendants arrange predetermined signals. They can use them when they want to change the subject or when the prince is being left alone too long."

"Just talking about lending and borrowing books makes her emotions seem ready to snap. She should probably bring plenty of magic stones."

I wrote down every countermeasure I could think of and sent them to Rozemyne's attendants. I also wrote repeatedly that "ignoring royalty is strictly forbidden."

Immediately after I'd sent out everyone's replies, an urgent notice arrived from Charlotte. This year had been nothing but urgent notices.

*'Children from the former Veronica faction who went to hunt magical beasts for magic stones have returned, but Roderich was injured, so Big Brother went to rescue him. After Big Sister healed Roderich's wounds while listening to his account, she identified the beast as a Tarnisbefahren and, in order to bestow the blessing of darkness, flew out with her escort knights as well. I was instructed to contact the teachers, but is there anything else to be done? (Charlotte)'* "A Tarnisbefahren? What is that?"

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar name, and Ferdinand muttered "How troublesome" as he began writing a reply on the spot. The instructions told the apprentice knights on-site to avoid attacking directly, to take turns provoking the enemy, and to buy time until the Central Knight Order arrived.

"A magical beast that appears near Berkenstock. It can only be cut by black weapons."

"What!? Isn't that a disaster!?"

"Since we can't send our own knight order, we have no choice but to rely on the Central Temple."

Having finished writing, Ferdinand strode briskly toward the teleportation room. He handed the paper he'd just written to a knight present there.

"Send this immediately. It's urgent."

Charlotte's reply arrived almost as though someone had been waiting in the teleportation room.

*'Contact has already been sent to the site. They attacked and it enlarged, but they've split into teams to buy time now. (Charlotte)'* "Hartmut's really capable."

Ferdinand exhaled with a breath of relief and pushed back his hair.

We waited restlessly for further news about what had become of the Tarnisbefahren until a notice arrived: *'The Tarnisbefahren has been defeated. However, Big Sister also collapsed. There are no other casualties. (Charlotte)'* "If the Tarnisbefahren is dealt with, that's good. It's worrying, but Rozemyne collapsing is par for the course."

Kalstedt, who had been looking like he wanted to rush out to help at any moment, relaxed his shoulders. He let out a sigh of relief. The next day, reports arrived from each person.

*'I was notified and began preparing simultaneously, then headed out to help. Matthias told me we needed to buy time until the teachers arrived, so I offered to take turns engaging the beast. Rozemyne arrived during the stalling and bestowed the blessing of darkness on our weapons. The attack began. The beast moved swiftly and was hard to hit. However, during the attack, Rozemyne covered the Tarnisbefahren's head with a black cloth, restricting its movement, and we pressed our advantage all at once, dealing a massive blow. I achieved second-highest contribution in my very first battle. (Wilfried)'* *'Lady Rozemyne was truly a saint. Her profile as she bestowed the blessing of darkness upon our weapons was magnificent, and her prayers were as smooth and beautiful as melody itself. The Tarnisbefahren was clearly most wary of Lady Rozemyne. It would tolerate the other knights' attacks, but it did everything in its power to dodge Lady Mizudeppou alone. Realizing her attacks were being dodged, she then used the divine tool Cloak of Darkness to restrain the Tarnisbefahren. Without Lady Rozemyne, we could never have defeated the Tarnisbefahren. But that's not all. Lady Rozemyne used Flutrene's staff to restore the collection site. I witnessed a miracle of the gods with my own eyes. Magnificent! Praise be to the gods! (Hartmut)'* *'When the teachers and the Central Knight Order arrived, it was apparently already over. They said they wanted to know the details of the subjugation and about the temple situation in Ehrenfest. The Tarnisbefahren apparently came from the direction of the Berkenstock dormitory. Since students shouldn't be able to use the blessing of darkness, they said it should be recorded that the Central Knight Order defeated it. (Charlotte)'* "…These are all reports about the same event, right?"

"The name Tarnisbefahren appears in every report, so it must be."

They sure didn't read like reports about the same event.

"Well, they all did a well. That much is certain."

"Indeed. It's not the kind of magical beast students should normally have to deal with, but it shows promise for future Trombe hunts after they come of age."

As I nodded along with Kalstedt's words, Ferdinand pressed his temple and glared at me.

"Sylvester, as soon as she recovers, call Rozemyne back. There's an urgent matter we need to discuss."

"Hm?"

"About the blessing. Rozemyne used something slightly different from the incantations taught in the knight order — I believe she used the prayer text from the Holy Book verbatim. I want to go over the circumstances to some extent before any formal questioning."

At Ferdinand's words, I nodded.

Despite instructing Rozemyne to return immediately after the tea party with the invited royalty was over, Rozemyne did not come back. The teleportation circle lit up, and what appeared in its place was a bundle of papers.

"Wasn't Rozemyne supposed to come back once the tea party was over?"

"It seems what came back was not Rozemyne, but only her reports."

Ferdinand took the papers from the knight, flipped through them, closed his eyes briefly, then looked at me with a smile that didn't reach his eyes at all and said, "Let's return to the office, Lord of Ehrenfest." It seemed something truly terrible had happened.

Back in the office, Ferdinand began reading aloud Hartmut's report. It described how, before the tea party, Rozemyne had registered Dunkelfelger's Lord candidates as suppliers, how the prince wanted a Trowoin armband, and how Rozemyne had promised to gift him one.

…Following the hair ornament last year, she was securing orders from royalty again this year — what was Rozemyne thinking? Ah, she wasn't thinking at all. I knew that.

*'The Ehrenfest sweets seemed to please the prince. When the topic of how few books were being returned came up, Lady Rozemyne suddenly suggested that she have the prince send an Ordinance to remind people to return them.'* "Hah!?"

"She gave work to a prince!? Who does she think she is!?"

When Kalstedt and I involuntarily cried out, Ferdinand sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Everyone around her probably thought the same. Read on."

"I don't want to, but I'll listen."

*'However, as a member of royalty, he doesn't have much work, so the prince was delighted by the idea. He said he would consult with the king about it. It was too sudden, and moreover, his response was completely unpredictable — even the attendants couldn't stop him. The prince's closest aides were also dumbfounded.'* "This combination of that prince and Rozemyne is dangerous. Wouldn't you agree?"

The prince had been raised to serve as a subordinate rather than as royalty, so his pride as royalty apparently hadn't developed much. Otherwise, there was no way he would have cheerfully accepted Rozemyne's presumptuous suggestion.

"The more dangerous you think it is and the more you want to keep them apart, the closer Rozemyne gets to him."

"I am genuinely thankful right now that I am not among the attendants who had to be present at this tea party. If I had my way, I wouldn't want to be in a position to read reports like these either."

"There's no way we can let even one of us off the hook, Kalstedt. Accept your fate and listen. This is your daughter."

Ferdinand snorted derisively as he read on. You're the guardian, you know — I thought to myself as I listened to the report.

*'The attendant sent signals to change the subject. Lady Rozemyne managed to steer the conversation toward the mysteries of the Noble Academy and kept pestering them about the closed stacks. After that, Dunkelfelger and they exchanged books, and books from Ehrenfest were lent to Professor Solange as well as Prince Hildebrand. When Lady Hannalore praised Ehrenfest's books, Lady Rozemyne used magic stones.'* "She needed magic stones just because she was praised? I'm glad we sent her with extras after all."

"Last year she passed out just from becoming friends with someone."

Ferdinand's words made me involuntarily grimace.

"…Passing out just from becoming friends? I don't want that kind of friendship. Dunkelfelger's lady is surprisingly tough mentally."

"She's a Dunkelfelger woman. It's not surprising."

"I can't tell whether Rozemyne has grown or regressed."

Kalstedt murmured whether she was collapsing more easily than before she started using Leveled.

"Her body is healthier now, but her Magic Power has increased too. The frequency of her collapses probably hasn't changed much."

*'Then, in return, she borrowed books from Dunkelfelger and materials about a librarian's work from Professor Solange. Prince Hildebrand, swept along by those around him, also said he wanted to return the favor. The moment the prince's attendant glanced at Lady Rozemyne and suggested inviting her to the Royal Library, Lady Rozemyne lost consciousness and collapsed.'* "She collapsed in front of royalty again!?"

"The host of the tea party collapsed again!?"

My voice and Kalstedt's overlapped. Ferdinand sat alone, wearing a complicated expression, glaring at the report. I wanted to know what happened next and urged Ferdinand on.

"So what happened to the tea party? How was it interrupted? Could they clean up the mess?"

*'The Central aides were flustered, the prince was in tears, and Lady Hannalore was nearly crying while repeating "she's fine." They called on Lady Wilfried and Lady Charlotte for help and scrambled to manage the aftermath. (Hartmut)'* …I felt like Wilfried and Charlotte were growing rapidly from having to clean up after Rozemyne.

"…What a disaster of a tea party. What do we do, Ferdinand?"

"What do we do, what do we do — all we can do is hear Rozemyne out. Order her to apologize to everyone and make her come back. At this point, she can use her continuous collapses as an excuse. I was going to send her back to the Noble Academy after just hearing the circumstances, but never mind. She'll stay in Ehrenfest until the Dedication Ritual is over."

Ferdinand said this with a resigned air. I understood the urge to throw up my hands. I had a worse headache than last year. Kalstedt looked like he couldn't even bear to open his mouth.

…Why? Why could Rozemyne cause this many problems?

Peace — that was a word as distant as could be from Rozemyne.

For now, I'll post this as promised.

These are guardians who can only read the reports without being able to intervene.

While putting together concise reports, it really was a continuous series of "why did this happen?"

Next will be a discussion with the returned Rozemyne.