Regaining Blessings — Part One

While everyone else was searching for things in the workshop, I threw myself into making charms. The commoner charms required materials from the library's workshop—there was no way around that. Considering how many I needed for my family in the Lower City and for the Gutenbergs, I'd need quite a few. If I handed them out when summoning the Guild Master, the Gilberta Company, and the Platan Company, I couldn't very well leave the Guild Master out.

"I've made enough charms, including extras, so that should do it."

After spending an unusual amount of time making commoner charms instead of reading, I transported the items needed for the ceremony to the temple. Tomorrow was the day for regaining blessings.

"Lady Rozemyne, I received my blessings again after my graduation ceremony, so I won't be participating in tomorrow's ceremony. I'll be heading to training instead."

"I also received my blessings again, so I'd like to do my work at the castle."

I nodded at Leonore's and Lieseleta's words, then turned to Judit.

"What will you do, Judit?"

"I don't think my prayers were sufficient, so I'll be holding off this time. I can head to training, or if you'd prefer to have guards present, I can go to the temple."

"You have plenty of guard knights, so please head to training. …I should also send invitations to Ottilie and Brunhilde."

I'd sent orthenz to the two of them, but Ottilie hadn't done much praying recently, and Brunhilde was apparently extremely busy with interactions with Gretel and arranging the education of attendants. Brunhilde planned to perform her ceremony after her own graduation, so she would be sitting this one out.

"But Grete, who swore her name to me, is obligated to participate, so make sure she comes to the temple."

"Understood."

It was theorized that Roderich had obtained all attributes because of the nameswearing, but that hadn't been confirmed yet. This time, I planned to have the nameswearing group undergo the blessing ceremony after the adults.

…Would Mother come?

If Mother could come to the temple, I could investigate whether changing the person to whom one swore their name affected the blessings obtained. Muriella would need to undergo the ceremony multiple times, but I wanted to look into it if possible. When I used orthenz to ask Mother about her schedule, I received the reply, "I can come in the afternoon."

"Let's get a new recipe for sweets. Now that Cornelius has graduated, I can't get new recipes anymore."

To keep my mother from being too opportunistic, I decided to prepare this year's reward—the mousse recipe.

The next day, the attendants who would be performing the ceremony had already gathered before the third bell rang. I opened the door to the workshop in the High Priest's chambers and handed out the magic stones needed for entry, preparing so they could bring out the magic circles and other items.

"Lady Rozemyne, shall I bring these to the prayer room?"

"Yes, Fran. I've told Hartmut to head to the prayer room after giving instructions for his duties, so please bring everything there. I'd like it to be as similar to the Noble Academy as possible."

Since this was heavy labor, I called not just Fran but also Gil and Fritz from the workshop to help carry the items. Hartmut's attendants quickly joined them, and in no time, the cargo was transported out.

"Monica, has the orphanage been notified?"

"Yes. I've told them not to enter the prayer room today."

Since I had to watch who was coming and going from the workshop, I left the preparations to Hartmut and Damiel. The laynobles Muriella, Roderich, and Philine served as assistants.

After having everything carried out, I collected the magic stone brooches I'd given the attendants, closed the workshop door, and headed to the prayer room. Inside, Hartmut and the others were preparing exactly as I'd instructed.

The altar was decorated with cloth and fruit, and the incense burner held a fire, from which a faint fragrance drifted. A red cloth was laid facing the altar, and a large cloth with a magic circle drawn on it was spread out. Unlike the magic circle I'd seen at the Noble Academy, this one wasn't embroidered but drawn with ink. Ferdinand apparently couldn't bring himself to embroider one.

"First, to verify whether this magic circle actually works and whether the ceremony can still grant blessings when performed one attribute at a time, Angelica will be our test subject."

Since it was drawn with ink, some parts may have faded over the years, or there might be something wrong with the setup preventing it from activating.

"As a trial, I'll be present during Angelica's ceremony, but after that, I'd like everyone to go one at a time. The blessing ceremonies at the Noble Academy were conducted individually, weren't they? Perhaps it's because the blessings obtained aren't something to show off publicly, or perhaps it's so one can focus on the ceremony."

A lookout was needed for Angelica's ceremony to verify whether the incantation was truly being recited, but the others should have been fine. When I reviewed the ceremony procedures, everyone looked at Angelica with worried expressions. She really wasn't trustworthy at times like these. She herself was nodding energetically with a determined look, saying "I'll do my best," but it was still concerning.

"After Angelica's trial, Hartmut will go next."

"Not me?" Cornelius asked in surprise. It was standard to use a lower-ranking person for a trial, but after confirming it worked properly, the normal practice was to proceed in order of status.

"Yes. Hartmut needs to finish the ceremony quickly and return to his duties."

While there were plenty of guard knights who could replace Brother Cornelius as my guard, there was no one who could replace Hartmut as Chief Priest directing operations. I'd been asked by Wilfried, and Hartmut was looking forward to it, so the ceremony was moved up, but this was actually a busy period with preparations for the Baptism Ceremony and Dedication Rituals in a few days.

"I see. Efficiency-wise, it does make more sense for Hartmut to go first. However, in noble society, disrupting the established order is frowned upon, so please keep that in mind."

He warned me that my methods only worked in the temple, but gave his approval for reordering the sequence.

"After Angelica's ceremony, I'll be in the High Priest's workshop. Hartmut, Cornelius, Matthias, Lorenz, Muriella, Grete, and Damiel—please proceed in that order and come report the results to me. Muriella will go again after Mother arrives."

"Understood."

After surveying everyone's nods, I pointed to the wooden box at my feet.

"This wooden box contains magic power recovery potions. Please make sure to thoroughly fill the magic circle with your own magic power—don't forget."

Then, with only Angelica and me remaining, everyone else left the prayer room. The guard knights would be standing watch outside the door. I took a magic power recovery potion from the wooden box and held it out to Angelica.

"Alright, Angelica. Let's do this. To try obtaining specific blessings, let's see whether the ceremony can be performed by calling upon the names of particular gods."

"Yes."

Angelica took the magic power recovery potion I offered and stood at the center of the magic circle. Then, facing the altar, she knelt, touched the magic circle, and began pouring in her magic power.

"I offer my prayers and gratitude to the gods who created this world."

I slowly recited the names of the Highest God and the five great gods so Angelica wouldn't make mistakes. The marks for fire and wind—her affinity attributes—glowed, and a pillar of light rose, though not particularly high. Seeing someone else's ceremony like this, I understood even more clearly why I'd been called extraordinary when all my attributes had lit up from the start with a pillar roughly twice Angelica's height. Comparing with others is important.

…Once I received the blessings of the divine retainers, my light pillar kept growing taller and taller. There's quite a difference compared to other people.

While I was thinking this, Angelica began reciting the names of the divine retainers.

"Goddess of Gales, Steiferise. God of Valor, Angrief. If our prayers find favor in your eyes, grant us your blessings."

…She's genuinely only praying to the specific gods she wants blessings from!?

She must have been desperately hoping for these particular blessings, because as soon as she finished calling the names of just two gods, Angelica quickly recited the closing words. Not only was there no response whatsoever from reciting the divine retainers' names, but the light pillar atop the magic circle vanished completely.

"This is clearly a failure."

"As expected, one really does need to memorize the names of all the gods. What a shame."

No matter how thoroughly one filled the magic circle with magic power, it seemed one couldn't arbitrarily alter or skip the ceremony's order. That must be why memorizing all the gods' names was a common task for third-year students at the Noble Academy. Otherwise, the practice would have been abandoned long ago.

"Let's also try whether the ceremony can be performed by having Stuiluck repeat the words."

At my words, the look of despair on Angelica's face was replaced with a spark of life.

"I believe Stuiluck will do it for me!"

"This is an experiment, so I'll cooperate, but normally this is something one must do on one's own."

Stuiluck, channeling Ferdinand's voice, chided Angelica as she drank the recovery potion. A Stuiluck that said it would cooperate for experiments—it seemed to be heavily influenced by its original personality.

…I'll be sure to send along the experiment results.

"Let's do this."

Having recovered her magic power, Angelica returned to the center of the magic circle. Then, just as before, she began filling it with magic power.

"I offer my prayers and gratitude to the gods who created this world."

Angelica had no trouble reciting the names of the Highest God and the five great gods. The problem was the divine retainers that came after.

"God of Warding Evil, Kaasufurie, retainer of Darkness."

"God of Concealment, Feabercan."

Angelica repeated Stuiluck's words. These seemed to be gods Angelica had never prayed to, as there was no response from the magic circle. For the record, I held both of their blessings. Why was I beset by one disaster after another despite having Kaasufurie's blessing?

"God of Valor, Angrief, retainer of Fire."

Only then was there a response. The blue pillar of Fire, the god's noble color, grew slightly taller. There was also a response from the God of Guidance, Ehwazklein, and the blue pillar grew a bit more. Seeing this, Angelica smiled happily. Her motivation seemed to increase, as her voice took on more vigor when repeating the words.

"Goddess of Time, Dreafanguea, retainer of Wind."

"Goddess of Gales, Steiferise."

This time, the yellow pillar grew slightly taller. It seemed she had received Steiferise's blessing. I'd hoped she might also obtain the blessing of Oldschneeli, Goddess of Messengers, but unfortunately, she did not.

After that, with no further responses, she recited the closing words.

"If our prayers find favor in your eyes, grant us your blessings."

Light rose upward from the two pillars—blue and yellow—and descended upon Angelica as a blessing, swirling around as it fell. The magic power that had filled the magic circle flowed as streams of light along the red cloth, climbed to the altar, and was absorbed into the statue of the gods.

"A success."

Recalling my own ceremony, this should have obtained the blessings without issue. However, I wasn't sure whether she had received the Goddess of Wind's blessing.

"Did she receive the blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Stueria?"

"She did. When we did it at the Noble Academy, the yellow pillar disappeared at the end, so I think it went fine this time."

…So when you don't receive a great god's blessing, the light pillar disappears? That was news to me.

It seemed Angelica had experienced something quite rare at the Noble Academy. I didn't particularly want to experience having a light pillar vanish because I didn't receive a blessing, but it was undeniably rare.

"Since Angelica was able to receive her blessings thanks to Stuiluck, you should give it magic power or praise or something."

"Yes. And it's thanks to Lady Rozemyne for granting me Stuiluck. I'd like to go to the training grounds quickly to see if I've gotten even a little stronger. And I'd like to win against my master at least once."

Angelica was incredibly excited, but I didn't think divine blessings made one immediately stronger—they just reduced the magic power consumed.

…Or would it be like when Angrief granted his blessing?

There had been no particular reports from the knights who received Angrief's blessing, so I didn't think the power increase was that dramatic. But for Angelica, reducing the magic power consumed when using Stuiluck was apparently extremely significant.

"Since there are plenty of guard knights at the temple today, you're free to go to training. Come back and brag to your grandfather about regaining your blessings. He might want to come to the temple too."

Hoping Grandfather would come as well, I left the prayer room. Outside the door, my attendants were waiting in line while doubling as guards.

"Since Angelica succeeded, the ceremony should proceed without problems. Hartmut, off you go. Come to the High Priest's chambers to report the results when you're done."

"Then, excuse me."

Hartmut said that to Brother Cornelius and entered the prayer room.

"Let's leave only Cornelius, who will perform the ceremony next, here. Everyone else, go about your duties. Angelica, you may head to training."

I instructed Roderich, Philine, Muriella, and Damiel to work in the Chief Priest's chambers, and asked Matthias and Lorenz to serve as my guards. Grete was to wait in the High Priest's chambers. Angelica dashed out with the speed of the wind.

Upon returning to the High Priest's chambers, I immediately headed to the workshop. I gave Grete the magic stone brooch for entering and leaving the workshop and asked her to guide anyone who returned from the ceremony. I needed Grete to be present to avoid a situation where I'd be alone in the workshop with someone of the opposite sex.

"To keep others from overhearing what blessings people received, I'll also prepare an anti-eavesdropping Magical Tool. Ah, and Fran, please return to your usual duties. I'll leave guiding people to the workshop to Grete."

Fran had been waiting in the High Priest's chambers to welcome me back from the ceremony, but normally he would have been working in the Chief Priest's chambers. However, he smiled and declined, saying, "I cannot very well leave the High Priest's chambers without a single temple attendant present."

I gave Grete the magic stone for entering the workshop.

"What are you making in the workshop, Lady Rozemyne?"

"Charms."

"…You seemed to be making them in the library's workshop yesterday as well?"

Grete said this with a puzzled look. I had indeed made many yesterday, but that wasn't enough.

"The ones I made yesterday were to distribute to the Gutenbergs. I need both commoner and noble ones."

In truth, when Ferdinand had been clearing out the temple's workshop, he'd given me some of the materials—he had prioritized placing the high-quality ones into the High Priest's workshop. As a result, noble charms made in the temple's workshop turned out better.

"Then, please bring Hartmut here when he returns."

"Understood."

Entering the workshop, I selected one of my own charms that consumed less magic power and began making more of the same type. There were two kinds: one that deflected magical attacks and one that deflected physical attacks.

…As long as they protect against surprise attacks, the guard knights can handle the rest.

The guard knights assigned to the lord's family had been trained rigorously by Grandfather. If a charm could react to a surprise attack, they'd handle the rest.

I made charms for Wilfried and Charlotte, then let out a breath. Both had undergone magic compression, so they had plenty of magic power, but Melchior still hadn't even learned how to handle it properly, so I needed to make charms with even lower magic power consumption. Ferdinand had told me until he was blue in the face, "Don't use me as the standard."

…I remember that perfectly, thank you very much. Am I not perfect?

"Lady Rozemyne, are these the charms you said you would give to Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte for the Dedication Rituals?"

"Oh my, Hartmut. You're finished already?"

Seeing Grete and Hartmut enter the workshop, I stopped selecting materials for Melchior's charm. I stepped down from the footstool and went to the desk. After looking at the charms I'd made for the two of them, Hartmut smiled sweetly.

"Lady Rozemyne, I also wish to participate in the Dedication Rituals…"

Hartmut was smiling as he requested a charm. I had no objection to making one for him, but this was my chance to push through my request. I looked up at Hartmut and smiled serenely.

"If Hartmut stops that ridiculous prayer, I'll make one for you. Teaching children that kind of prayer is disrespectful to the gods."

I scolded him for slipping my name into prayer words, but he wouldn't listen, saying, "It's important to teach the former Veronica faction children whom they should be grateful to."

According to Hartmut, if these children didn't understand that they'd been saved while noble society was criticizing them, and instead harbored negative feelings, their budding chances of becoming nobles would be cut off no matter how hard they worked. Teaching them this was kindness, he said.

"Even so, there are better ways to teach them."

It wasn't something to sneak into prayers. At my words, Hartmut briefly looked down as if considering something, then raised his head and gave a smile so refreshing it was almost suspicious. "Understood. As Lady Rozemyne commands."

"I don't know what attitudes children who don't understand whom to be grateful for will take toward the lord's family—whom they consider their enemies—and how the nobles will perceive that. But compared to my receiving a charm from Lady Rozemyne, the children's future is a trivial matter. I'll stop it right away."

…Wha—wait? Stopping that prayer is actually a bad thing? Will it cause problems for the children in the future?

Hartmut's words caught in my chest, and my head started spinning. "Perhaps it would be better to continue it for the children's sake?"—just as I was thinking this, Grete lightly tapped my shoulder.

"Lady Rozemyne, please pull yourself together. Having them memorize a modified prayer wouldn't be good for the children's future, would it? Teaching them gratitude toward the lord's family and modifying prayer words are two completely different things."

"Y-Yes, of course! Grete, thank you. I've come to my senses. Hartmut, stop it immediately. Is that clear?"

When I gave the order, Hartmut looked a bit disappointed but shrugged and agreed.

"So, did you receive the blessings of the divine retainers?"

I pulled the paper I'd prepared on the desk toward me, handed Hartmut the anti-eavesdropping Magical Tool, and picked up a pen.

"Yes. From my affinity gods, I received the blessing of Geboltnoon, Goddess of Order and retainer of Light; Aanvax, God of Nurturing and retainer of Fire; and Oldschneeli, Goddess of Messengers and retainer of Wind."

"You said 'from my affinity gods'—so you also received blessings from retainers outside your affinity?"

I asked while taking notes. Hartmut smiled happily and nodded.

"I also received the blessings of Daoarebehn, God of Longevity, and Shuratoraum, God of Dreams, and gained the Life attribute."

"Few people have the Life attribute, so that's quite rare."

Hartmut, who had participated in the Harvest Festival and Consecration Rituals, had obtained unexpected blessings from divine retainers.

"Even though it hasn't been a year, you've received blessings from this many divine retainers. Actively participating in religious ceremonies really is necessary. …If you continue praying at the temple for the next few years, you might surpass Lord Wilfried."

There weren't many temple ceremonies that involved offering magic power. Wilfried, who had been supplying the foundation magic for years, had obtained more blessings as a result. Hartmut seemed a bit vexed by that.

"Brother Wilfried infuses magic power on a daily basis, so I don't think you'll be able to overtake him that easily."

I was curious to see how many blessings Charlotte would obtain.

After hearing Hartmut's results, I told him to leave the workshop. Before I could start making Melchior's charm, Brother Cornelius and Grete entered. Using the anti-eavesdropping Magical Tool, I asked them the same questions about what blessings they'd received.

"Just like Leonore, I received the blessing of Angrief, God of Valor, and Steiferise, Goddess of Gales. I'm relieved that my honor as Rozemyne's guard knight is intact."

It seemed Brother Cornelius had been slightly anxious because his fiancée Leonore had obtained Angrief's blessing first. A matter of male pride, perhaps.

…You really want to look cool in front of Leonore, don't you, Brother Cornelius.

As I looked up at Brother Cornelius with an amused smile, he seemed to notice the meaning in my gaze and averted his eyes slightly.

"Also, I received the blessing of Feadreas, retainer of Darkness."

"So your Darkness attribute has increased. Congratulations."

Feadreas was the god of exorcism. More precisely, he was the god who drove away the Goddess of Chaos. Very knightly, if you ask me.

"It's a pleasant surprise since I wasn't expecting an increase in attributes."

"Mother will be arriving around noon, so perhaps you should report to her then? Or would you like me to send an orthenz to Leonore?"

Chuckling as I looked up at Brother Cornelius, he said, "You don't need to worry about unnecessary things," and gave my cheek a quick pinch before leaving the workshop.

"Why does everyone pinch my cheeks?"

Rubbing my slightly stinging cheek, I set to work compounding Melchior's charm.

…Next up is the nameswearing group. I wonder how that will go?

Each received their blessings. The adult group has been going in and out of the temple for a long time, but since they only recently began offering prayers to the gods, the blessings they obtained weren't that many. However, they did receive more than those who started praying at the Noble Academy, thanks to the magic power they poured in during the Consecration Rituals.

Next is Part Two. Keep an eye on the nameswearing group and Damiel.