I was just about to leave everything in
"What is it, Lady Hannelore?"
"Rather than continuing to work in the archive, shouldn't we hide—avoid running into Dietlinde? It would be best if it weren't known that we, as minors, are helping out here, right?"
Hannelore's words, citing the incident at lunch, gave Magdalena pause for thought.
"I don't know how many guards Dietlinde has brought or what her purpose is, so being inside the archive is indeed the safest option. But what you say is perfectly reasonable as well, Lady Hannelore."
No matter how many knights she brought, only Dietlinde herself could enter the archive. Being inside was the safest, but if it were possible to avoid being discovered from the start, that would be ideal.
"I think running into each other on the stairs would be the most dangerous scenario, though..."
"This is Solange. I have been informed that I will be handling the entry registration for Dietlinde of
Solange, who knew we were eating all our meals in the underground archive as well, had gone out of her way to let us know. If she was buying us time and helping us get out, all the better.
"Lady Magdalena shouldn't be seen much either, right? Let's hide in the closed stacks together."
I called out to her, but Magdalena shook her head. "No. If the archive is open and no one is here, that would be unnatural."
"Besides, I need to investigate how Dietlinde learned of this archive's existence and from whom. After the civil war, no royal who survived knew of it. Dietlinde couldn't have known about it herself. If she had, she would have registered with the library during her student days."
...When she put it that way, she had a point.
"It's still around the time when those who finished lunch haven't finished moving about. Even if you're escorted out by Solange, do not approach the central building. I will send an Orthros once Dietlinde has left the library."
I nodded at Magdalena's words, gathered the documents I had translated into modern language and handed them to her, then packed away my writing implements and prepared to leave. I had been expecting to spend the whole day sequestered in the archive, so I was a little disappointed.
I sent an Orthros to inform my attendants, who were cleaning up after lunch, of the situation and told them not to return to the library until they received word.
"Make sure you don't inconvenience anyone, Hildbrand. I will be here speaking with Dietlinde."
Magdalena smiled and entrusted Hildbrand to his knights' care, then urged us to hurry to the closed stacks. We rushed up the stairs. The lock on the door between the closed stacks and the underground archive had been opened so the attendants could come and go, so we had no trouble entering.
Brother
"Prince Hildbrand, please hide behind the bookshelf at the very back.
We sent Hannelore and Hildbrand, who both had many attendants, toward the back, and took up positions behind the bookshelves in front. The bookshelves in the closed stacks, which held precious volumes, had back panels, so hiding behind them should keep us completely out of sight.
"...Are they not here yet?"
Even though we were completely hidden, Dietlinde had yet to arrive. Solange might be stalling for time, but sitting perfectly still without moving was agonizing.
"The lock has been opened so the attendants can come and go. We don't know when she'll walk in, so please stay quiet."
...I want to read the books that are here.
Having unread books right in front of me and not being able to pick one up and read while hiding behind the bookshelf was torture.
...It's quiet, so maybe I could read? No, that's no good. I know. I know, but I want to read so badly.
I waited for Dietlinde to arrive while considering the scolding I'd receive if I said that out loud. A clink sounded as the door opened, and bright light spilled into the closed stacks.
"Oh my. Then, Lady Dietlinde, you came here because of that letter...?"
Solange's gentle voice echoed through the closed stacks. I could tell Solange was asking about the reason for her visit so that we could hear.
"Yes, that's right. A strange letter arrived with no sender name... It said it wanted to offer whatever small help it could so that I might become the next Zent. It stated that the knowledge necessary to become Zent sleeps within the Royal Academy library. It must surely have been a gift sent to me from the gods."
...Wait a moment. You came to the library believing a suspicious anonymous letter like that?! Dietlinde's behavior is unbelievably reckless for a lord candidate!
I had no room to talk, being scolded often myself, but if I had done the same thing,
...Impossible for a lord candidate, yet Dietlinde stumbled onto the right answer. Unbelievable.
Ferdinand had said, "There wasn't enough Magic Power, so the magic circle didn't activate," but if she were truly serious about becoming the next Zent, she would need to read the documents in the underground archive.
"It was written that the library would be open during the Lord's Conference, so I decided to visit. My schedule fills up quickly with banquets and tea parties, so if I miss today, who knows when I'll have another chance."
It was rare for the first day of the Lord's Conference to be packed with engagements. The first few days had a meeting where all the aub couples gathered, with invitations and schedule adjustments happening in between. So the beginning still had some breathing room, though it supposedly grew busier as the days progressed.
I had heard from my adoptive father that back when Ehrenfest was a bottom-tier duchy with almost no invitations from other duchies, they had so few engagements they wished it would end quickly. But now, their schedule was packed from the first day.
"Prince
Orthenia reprimanded her with a wry smile, "...Saying things like that could be seen as disrespectful to the royal family." But Dietlinde simply giggled.
"Can you really call royals who don't even possess the
I don't know how she could be that confident, but Dietlinde's triumphant laughter echoed through the closed stacks.
"But aren't you the next Aub Ahrensbach, Lady Dietlinde?"
"That's true, but I'm certain I'll obtain the Grutrissheit before I become aub."
Her attendants said nothing—whether because they believed Dietlinde was correct, or simply because it was too much hassle to resist and they were letting it slide. At this rate, Ferdinand was going to get dragged into the fallout, no joke.
"Lady Dietlinde, there is something I would like to ask..."
Orthenia cleared her throat with a small cough, cutting through Dietlinde's laughter. Then, speaking deliberately as if to ensure we could hear, she asked in a slightly louder voice.
"Will the flowers of Schlatraum bloom beautifully again this year?"
"What kind of flowers are those?"
"You don't know them, Lady Dietlinde? A flower only available in Ahrensbach, and one supposedly beloved by my husband. Why not ask Lady
With those words, Orthenia led Dietlinde and her attendants down the stairs.
...What are Schlatraum flowers? Dietlinde doesn't know about them, but Lady Georgine would? Orthenia's husband was the Central Knight Commander, Laubelut, right?
This had to be some kind of hint. The sort of coded language nobles used when they didn't want to say something openly, wanted to maintain the appearance of being uninvolved, or only needed those in the know to understand.
...If I wrote to Lord Ferdinand about this, would he understand? ...Ugh. But is it alright to contact him?
I had just been told to avoid contact, so was it okay to send a letter? Still, this was too much to carry alone. Georgine, who was targeting Ehrenfest, and Laubelut, who had suspected Ferdinand of usurpation and been sent to Ahrensbach—their names had both come up in the same breath. Even I could tell something ominous was afoot.
...It involves Lady Georgine, so I'll consult with my adoptive father for now...
I wasn't sure if my adoptive father even knew Laubelut. The only personal contact I'd had with Laubelut was when I'd been summoned at the Royal Academy and shown him the Holy Book, and when he'd come to the library and I had Ferdinand confirm that the fruit was from Adalgeza.
...If only I could explain it without revealing the Adalgeza fruit.
My musings were cut short by the sound of Solange closing the door to the passage leading underground. After locking the door, Solange turned around with a graceful spin.
"Everyone, are you still here?"
"Yes, Solange."
"This way leads outside."
With those words, Solange led us out through what seemed like an emergency exit. Emerging suddenly from the dark closed stacks into the bright outdoors made my eyes ache and my vision swim with spots of light.
"This is the back side of the library. It's directly opposite the central building, so you shouldn't attract attention as long as you don't ride feybeasts. ...Perhaps you'd like to take a stroll until Lady Dietlinde leaves? Being underground all day can't be good for your health."
With that, Solange headed back inside to unlock the door to the underground archive. We had avoided running into Dietlinde. But there was no way I could stroll around until she left.
...I should have at least borrowed a book to take with me.
It was no use regretting it now. I stood dazed in the library's back garden. Hannelore looked around the garden with a troubled expression.
"The weather is certainly lovely enough for a picnic, but we left the tea-making tools and snacks down in the underground archive. How shall we pass the time?"
"Lady Hannelore, a picnic does sound nice, but in case something happens, I think it would be better to move to a different location."
Artur, one of Hildbrand's retainers, scanned the surroundings with a tense expression.
"Then, how about walking over there? In the forest, we should be less visible."
I pointed toward the forest spreading across the south side of the garden. Dappled sunlight painted intricate patterns on the forest floor, and the woods looked far more pleasant than the library garden, where the sunlight beat down so intensely it was dizzying.
"That sounds like a good idea. Lady Rozemyne, you should ride your lesser feybeast and head a little into the forest. Too much exposure to direct sunlight will upset your health."
"I'm a bit sturdier now, though..."
I pouted at Ortie's words. Ever since my second bath in the Yuleve, I had become considerably more resilient. She couldn't have an accurate picture of my condition, given that I'd been away at the Royal Academy and then spent almost all my time at the
"I am aware that you've been growing sturdier bit by bit, Lady Rozemyne, but you mustn't be careless. If your health deteriorates, you won't be able to visit the archive for some time."
...That may be true, but don't say that in front of Lady Hannelore and Prince Hildbrand!
At Ortie's words, I glanced furtively at Hannelore and Hildbrand. Sure enough, the two who had been traumatized by me suddenly collapsing at a tea party, along with their retainers, went pale and pointed urgently toward the forest.
"Rozemyne, let's go to the forest. You may use your feybeast. If you collapsed while helping a member of the royal family, I would..."
"Prince Hildbrand is quite right, Lady Rozemyne. If you go straight south from here, you should reach the Dunkelfelger dormitory. A little into the forest and you might be able to see it."
With Hildbrand having given his permission, I couldn't very well say "I'll walk for my health." I summoned my Lesser Bird of Prey and climbed on, then headed into the forest with the others. Everyone was walking while I rode alone—I felt a little resentful of the situation.
...If I could walk at the same pace as Prince Hildbrand, I would.
By the time Brother Cornelius sent an Orthros and
I was riding my feybeast with a touch of dissatisfaction, but the forest, with its thick canopy filtering the sunlight just so, seemed charged with negative ions and felt incredibly pleasant. It was as if the tangled thoughts in my head were slowly unraveling.
"The Royal Academy without a snowy landscape feels strange, but the forest is truly lovely."
"Yes. I never imagined such a beautiful place. The white buildings stand out beautifully against the greenery and colorful flowers."
Much like me, who knew only the snow-covered Royal Academy, Hannelore was struck by the beauty of the Academy in spring. After admiring their surroundings, Hannelore began sharing her thoughts on the Tale of Fernestine—something she'd held back while Magdalena was present.
The second volume of the Tale of Fernestine ended on a cliffhanger of pure torture, with Fernestine having thought she would find happiness after accepting the prince's proposal, only to face the king's opposition and be married off through her stepmother's scheme.
"I was so desperately worried about the continuation, I could barely stand it. If Fernestine doesn't find happiness, then Dunkelfelger is... no, what will I do..."
Hannelore stared at me, trembling, and Prince Hildbrand, who had apparently also read the Tale of Fernestine, smiled and shook his head.
"Hannelore, there's no need to despair like that. The prince will certainly come to rescue Fernestine. They love each other deeply. There's no way they would give up."
"Is that true, Lady Rozemyne?"
Gazed upon by two pairs of hopeful eyes, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Please read the third volume and see the ending for yourselves. I have it with me today."
"Oh, really? How exciting. ...It definitely concludes in this volume, right?"
Hannelore asked with a slightly guarded expression. The Tale of Fernestine was indeed complete in three volumes. When I nodded with a smile, Hannelore finally relaxed and smiled with relief.
"...What is that? I can see something white."
Angelica's voice drifted down from the treetops, where she'd been scouting ahead. From our position, we couldn't see it, but apparently there was a building of modest size.
"Could it be the Dunkelfelger dormitory?"
"No, that's not it. The Dunkelfelger dormitory is much farther away and far larger. It's a building large enough that you can't see it from the ground—buried among the trees, visible only from above on a feybeast."
The others tilted their heads as well, none of them able to think of a building that matched the description. The dormitories for each duchy were generally taller than the forest trees. They had a basement, a ground floor for servants, a first floor with a dining hall and multipurpose hall, a second floor for the boys' rooms, a third floor for the girls' rooms, and a fourth floor—or rather, an attic used for storage. They were far too tall to be hidden by the forest.
"Go and take a look at what kind of place it is. If the surroundings are open, I'd like to rest there for a bit."
At my words, Angelica used body enhancement to deftly leap from branch to branch and advance ahead. The two Dunkelfelger knights followed after her at Hannelore's instruction.
"The door was locked and shut. The building is quite dirty, and it looks like it hasn't been used in over ten years."
"Since even we don't know about it, I don't think resting there would attract any attention."
After hearing the scouts' report, we made our way toward the building. As reported, a white building stood quietly among the forest trees. The overgrown grass and the building's neglected state made it clear that no one had visited in a very long time.
"If someone managed it and infused it with Magic Power, a white building wouldn't deteriorate. Truly, it seems no one comes here."
"It really is a small building. Could it be a forest keeper's cottage?"
At Hildbrand's words, Artur replied, "The keeper's cottages are much smaller." It was small compared to dormitories or castles, but larger than a gazebo or a forest keeper's cottage. No windows could be found, so it was impossible to see inside. Though an unusual building, the stone statues flanking either side of the door reminded me somewhat of the gate leading from the merchant district to the Temple.
"...This might be a shrine."
"Huh?"
"I've heard that my grandfather once broke a shrine in a remote part of the Royal Academy during the Ditter of Treasure-Stealing. And didn't we hear from Solange about one of the Twenty Wonders—how there were bad students who played pranks on the shrines scattered throughout the Academy? This might be one of those shrines."
After mentioning that the stone statues flanking the door resembled the Temple gates, I dismounted my feybeast and approached the building. I couldn't simply leave a shrine dedicated to the gods in this state of neglect.
"Lady Rozemyne?"
"At the very least, let's clean it up. We can't very well sit and rest like this."
I had been riding my feybeast, but both Hildbrand and Hannelore had walked quite a distance. They probably wanted to sit and rest. Determined to work as much as I'd rested, I pulled out a sheet of magic paper with a magic circle drawn on it from the pouch at my waist.
"What is that?"
"It's a magic circle to assist with wide-area magic that
I took out my
"There, it's clean now."
"T-That's the first time I've ever seen someone wash an entire building with Waschen."
After Entwickeln, I had seen Ferdinand wash an entire merchant district, so I'd thought it was a relatively standard—if Mana-intensive—method. But judging by everyone's reactions, apparently it wasn't.
"I couldn't do it without the supporting magic circle. It's all thanks to Clarissa. Ho ho ho..."
I laughed it off, but perhaps my lack of noble common sense wasn't entirely Ferdinand's fault.
"Now that it's been cleaned, why don't you sit and rest? You must be tired, Prince Hildbrand, Lady Hannelore?"
When I gestured toward the steps in front of the door and invited them to rest, Hildbrand hurried over with a smile.
"I'll accept your kind offer, Rozemyne, but a distance like this is nothing. I've been training as well."
Royal or not, Hildbrand was a boy of Dunkelfelger blood. He seemed quite well-trained indeed. He wasn't tired from this amount of walking. Hannelore didn't seem especially tired either, and was contemplating whether to send her attendants back to the dormitory to prepare tea.
...Maybe riding my feybeast was the right call after all.
"The Dunkelfelger dormitory is relatively close from here. Shall I have tea prepared?"
"There's no need—it's better not to stand out. Preparing tea while riding feybeasts would be difficult for the attendants as well."
At the words of Hildbrand's retainers, Hannelore nodded. "Then, I'll rest here for a while as well," she said, walking over toward us.
"Lady Hannelore, please, come this way. Until we receive an Orthros from Lady Magdalena, tell me your thoughts on the Tale of Fernestine."
I braced my hand against the door and called out to Hannelore. The next instant, I was sucked through the door that should have been closed.
"Wha—!?"
In the blink of an eye, my view shifted from the forest landscape to the interior of a shrine with statues of the gods. There were no windows, but the translucent blue Slate held by the statue at the center of the shrine emitted light that illuminated the interior, so it was far from dark.
Thirteen statues of the gods stood in a row across the roughly twelve- or thirteen-tatami-mat interior. Seeing the heroic male figure at the center holding a spear and a blue Slate, flanked by other powerful statues, I understood that this was a shrine dedicated to the Fire God,
"I've never seen a shrine like this."
I had seen statues of the Supreme God and the five great gods on the altars at the Temple and the Royal Academy, but this was the first time I had seen a shrine dedicated solely to the Fire attribute, with all of its divine retainers arrayed together.
"Whoa, this looks like it could help with growth."
I threw my hand up and struck a prayer pose. Then I began offering prayers to each of the divine retainers present.
"Fire God, Leidenschaft. Guiding God, Ehwelyakh. Nurturing God, Anwachs..."
...Please, let me grow up to be like everyone else!
As I prayed, Magic Power was drawn into the blue Slate held by Leidenschaft. Watching it, I saw the Slate sparkle and caught sight of words engraved upon it.
...What could it be?
I approached the blue Slate—a sight I had never seen before—and read the words.
"Your prayers have reached me. I acknowledge you. From Leidenschaft, I grant you the words to obtain the Book of
At that point, Leidenschaft's finger interrupted the text. The crucial part—"the words to obtain the Book of Mestionora"—remained a mystery. I pulled the blue Slate from the statue's grasp, grumbling, "I can't read it like this, Lord Leidenschaft!"
"My words alone are not yet enough. The next Zent candidate must obtain words from all the gods."
The moment I finished reading the final line, the blue Slate was absorbed into me. It merged with the Stenluke inside me. I understood through sensation that this blue Slate was a fusion of the Magic Power from all the prayers I had offered and the "will of the gods." At the same time, just as when the names of the Darkness God and the
"Krewalk."
"I shall take a seat here, then."
Hannelore approached with a smile and sat down before the door. The strange sensation that no time had passed at all made me look around in bewilderment. The moment the words granted by Leidenschaft had left my lips, I had been standing outside the shrine. It was as though Leidenschaft had summoned me for the sole purpose of granting those words.
"Lady Rozemyne, are you all right?"
"No, it's nothing."
I smiled back at Hannelore. The scenery around us was unchanged. Not a single person had noticed that I had entered the shrine. But the words that had surfaced in my mind were not gone.
...The words to obtain the Book of Mestionora?
The Book of Mestionora, the Book of Wisdom—it was an irresistible, sweet temptation for me.
Magdalena and Dietlinde's exchange would continue another day.
And so, I discovered a mysterious shrine and obtained the Blue Slate.
I know it's something I shouldn't get involved with, but the Book of Mestionora is something I simply must read.
Next time—consultation.