While the ordonnanz repeated Aub
"Aub Dunkelfelger, before heading to the royal palace, I request a report on the situation here. If you are in a hurry, please leave behind a squad of knights for the report and coordination."
Ferdinand grumbled about how they shouldn't just dump everything and run, then sent the ordonnanz flying. A small portion of the riding beast group that had been rushing out from the detached palace stopped in midair and turned back, re-entering the detached palace as if drawn by a thread.
"Youstutz and squads two and three, interrogate the
"Yes, sir!"
With a casual wave, the knights began moving the prisoners. Turning his back on them, Ferdinand directed his gaze to the remaining knights.
"Squad six, take
After assigning the interrogation and exploration duties, Ferdinand had me mount a riding beast with him and headed toward Dunkelfelger's knights. One of the squad six knights was carrying Alstede all alone, suspended in midair. She was screaming. Being dangled like that was terrifying. I felt a twinge of sympathy for Alstede as I asked Ferdinand: "Ferdinand, why are you only taking Alstede? She's scared enough to be pitiful..."
"Because she is accustomed to obeying the strong, making her the most likely to yield information among the prisoners, and given that she was secretly made Aub, she likely possesses information comparable to
Detlinde wouldn't give reliable information, and
...What kind of reasoning was that? It was terrifying.
"Considering that the fool dangling in midair was the one who opened the Boundary Gate—without which no Lanzanave ships could have entered—she is truly the root of all this. She brought in the people of Lanzanave, resulting in the deaths of numerous nobles and inflicting deep wounds on
Alstede, who had been thrown onto the balcony, was so terrified that her teeth wouldn't stop chattering. While waiting for her to be able to speak, Ferdinand decided to listen to Dunkelfelger's report. The ones who gathered at the detached palace were Heissitz and nine other knights.
"All of them taking off at once—what exactly is Dunkelfelger thinking?"
"Dunkelfelger's primary objectives are the rescue of the royal family and the protection of the Noble Academy. It was a rescue request from the Zent, so they had no choice."
Heissitz spoke with a sharp expression, but being completely cut off like this was a problem. Ferdinand asked Heissitz how far the search had progressed, then entered the detached palace and ordered the Ahrensbach knights he had brought along to focus their search on the basement level.
"Oh, come to think of it, there were many strange tools in their rooms. I've had them gathered here."
In the room Heissitz led me to, numerous unfamiliar tools had been collected. I was warned not to touch anything carelessly since things like instant-kill poison might be among them, so I gave everything a wide look.
"We'll have these tools moved to the scholar building later. If I were to personally take the items the Lanzanave people brought into the Noble Academy back to Ahrensbach and keep them for myself, it would likely invite strong backlash from other provinces."
Right after I thought it was rare for a mad scientist to let go of unfamiliar tools, I heard what sounded like a demonic murmur: "How many territories can I lure in by dangling the research on these tools as bait..." I wanted to pretend I hadn't heard it, but I was fairly sure he'd said he wanted to use them as political bargaining chips.
We walked through the detached palace, which had been kept remarkably tidy. If it had been closed after the political upheaval, when many people were executed, it should have been shut down about ten years ago. Yet the fabrics and furniture were still remarkably clean. It was strange that everything was so well-maintained when Zent had supposedly decreed that no Lanzanave princess would be accepted.
"This detached palace looks as though it was prepared for a new resident. I wonder who arranged it?"
"It doesn't matter who prepared it. Rather, there are many things I'm curious about. Aub Dunkelfelger's ordonnanz isn't nearly enough information. What exactly happened at the royal palace, Heissitz?"
Ferdinand fired off instructions to the reporting knights one after another while questioning Heissitz. Heissitz straightened up like the proper knight he was and began his report.
"Apparently, one of the Central Knights from Dunkelfelger stationed at the royal palace contacted Rufen. When the royal family's guard rotation was taking place, several knights suddenly launched an attack. It was a complete ambush, and they've fallen into a chaotic melee where they can't distinguish friend from foe."
The Zent had evacuated to a room that was magically isolated like a hidden chamber, and outside that room, the Central Knights were fighting among themselves.
"I see. So that's why they definitely requested reinforcement from Dunkelfelger, recognizable by their blue mantles. But the royal palace should already be restricted to only those with authorization, for assassination prevention purposes. Is the Zent genuinely willing to accept Dunkelfelger's knights?"
Accepting knights from another province would require lowering the security level of the entire palace.
"If the goal is to draw in whoever is pulling the strings behind this, it actually seems like a perfect setup, though..."
"Dunkelfelger had been making such a commotion. The Chief Knight and his faction, who had been working with the Lanzanave people, couldn't possibly have failed to notice. They might have decided that the best course of action was to lure Dunkelfelger's knights into the palace and eliminate them all at once—using deadly poison several times within the palace could drastically reduce their numbers."
Even if they had countermeasures, all they could do was cover their faces with cloth and treat themselves with Yuleve. The amount of Yuleve any individual carried was limited. Being hit with it repeatedly would be devastating. And while Dunkelfelger had to contend with that, the enemy side had neutralizers and antidotes.
"Someone should warn Aub Dunkelfelger..."
"Of course I'll send a warning, but I doubt Aub will stop."
When I looked at Heissitz, he thought for a moment and shook his head.
"That's to be expected. Even if warned, they'd all charge in headfirst. It would be dead simple for whoever is setting the trap. Though whether they'll willingly walk into it is another matter..."
...Ah, I know. Aub Dunkelfelger would charge straight into a trap, then smash it to pieces by brute force and keep fighting as if nothing had happened.
"Once our search here is complete, we should regroup. With Ferdinand around, who can think up all sorts of plans, the royal family will surely feel more at ease."
Heissitz said this with a slightly overbearing but refreshing smile, but Ferdinand was the kind of person who'd said it would be less trouble if the royal family just collapsed. I couldn't imagine he'd find the royal family reassuring. Rather, I was more worried about Ferdinand potentially pulling all sorts of strings behind the scenes.
"The rescue request was directed at Dunkelfelger. Unless there's a request directed at Ahrensbach, we can't just act on our own. That's probably why Aub Dunkelfelger asked Rozemyne to give the order."
If they could freely go help on their own, Aub Dunkelfelger would have charged in the moment they saw signs of trouble. The pretext of having received a formal request was important.
"Besides, Ahrensbach is a province accused of inviting foreign enemies. If we showed up, the royal family would be troubled wondering whether we're truly on their side."
"With Rozemyne and Ferdinand present, there's no way they wouldn't accept us."
Heissitz said this with conviction, but I didn't think the royal family would so readily accept Ahrensbach's knights. I thought accepting them would be a problem. It was so foolish that even I could tell—Ferdinand would probably hit me with a flyswatter saying, "Doubt more, you idiot!"
"Rather than joining Dunkelfelger without a rescue request, I think we should prioritize finding Gervasio, who's still unaccounted for."
Capturing the rampaging Detlinde and the Lanzanave people was part of Aub Ahrensbach's responsibilities, but the Central Knights' infighting wasn't something I needed to get involved with. It wasn't as though the royal family would help if the Ehrenfest knights started fighting among themselves either, so I couldn't exactly say it was a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" situation. I'd been told before that Ehrenfest should handle its own problems, and the Central Knights' mess was for the Central to deal with.
"Heissitz, I believe in Dunkelfelger's strength. Rather than the reliable Dunkelfelger knights who went to help, I'm far more concerned about
"Understood. Once we've finished processing things here, we'll head to the library. But first, we need to hear Alstede's testimony."
When Ferdinand lightly waved his hand, Alstede—who had been rolled into a corner of the room—was dragged over by the knights.
"Rozemyne, you're a scholar—take notes. You have that convenient tool that lets you write as much as you need, don't you?"
Ferdinand told me to write in my
At first, Alstede maintained a vow of silence, claiming she was acting under Georgine's orders. But after being informed of Georgine's death, and then having her crimes enumerated one by one—beginning with how she had dyed the foundations against royal decree—and having the salvation of her young daughter before baptism used as a bargaining chip, her spirit was systematically broken down until she finally began talking.
"The person who holds the key to this detached palace is Central Knight Commander
It seemed that Raublut had revealed he could travel via a transfer circle during the previous Aub Ahrensbach's funeral. Alstede, who had dyed the foundations, had been told by Detlinde and Georgine on multiple occasions to go to the Lanzanave mansion to open the door containing the transfer circle.
"Isn't it strange for Raublut to have the key to the detached palace? The keys should be managed by the royal family..."
"The front entrance key is probably managed by the royal family. But who holds the key for the back entrance that Attendants use is unclear. Your library has a key for Lutzefam to come and go, doesn't it?"
According to Georgine's plan, everything was set in motion when Letizia released poison at Ferdinand and Detlinde confirmed her death. Georgine went to Ehrenfest, while Detlinde moved to the detached palace to obtain the Grutrissheit, and the royal family of Lanzanave moved there to obtain their Staves.
"Previously, at my mother's and Detlinde's request, I had been registering Lanzanave royals who wished to obtain Staves as Ahrensbach nobles."
When they moved to the detached palace, Raublut was there to welcome them. He then gave them a tour of the palace where they would spend several days—until Detlinde obtained the Grutrissheit and the Lanzanave people properly incorporated their Staves.
Alstede insisted that having unmarried men and women in the same building was bad for appearances, so Detlinde requested a room apart from
"After each person confirmed their rooms, we were to head to the innermost chamber to obtain the Staves. As Aub, I was assigned the role of opening the door."
But that couldn't be done, apparently. When Raublut went ahead to check outside the door, Prince
...Wait, wasn't that when Prince Sigiswald went to Ehrenfest's tea room during his meeting with Father?
That night, Raublut was summoned by the royal family for an "emergency."
The details weren't conveyed to Alstede and the others at the detached palace until the next day. They were apparently told that Ferdinand's attendants had moved to the Noble Academy to plea with Aub Ehrenfest for help, and that Detlinde and the Lanzanave people were making suspicious moves.
A large number of Central Knights had been stationed near the door of the Central building and around the Ahrensbach dormitory in case of an attack from Ahrensbach. But with no movement whatsoever, time simply passed.
"We spent our time preparing recovery medicines until the knights' guard let up. 'In case we get caught up in something,' they said. The Lanzanave people were practicing how to make knight armor."
They seemed familiar with handling magic stones, so the Lanzanave people didn't have much trouble making armor. They also checked other things that could be done with magic stones and tools for fighting.
...Even though their late-night surprise attack was pretty much useless.
The royal family couldn't maintain full alert indefinitely while hiding in a room like a secret chamber. Gradually, the number of knights on watch decreased until only Raublut's faction remained on duty at the Noble Academy, and they were finally able to move.
"We tried to open the door to the innermost chamber to obtain the Staves, but I couldn't open it. It was likely because I hadn't obtained the Zent's approval."
...At that point, hadn't I already dyed the foundations and stripped her of the qualification to be Aub?
Perhaps thinking the same thing, Ferdinand let out a derisive "Hmph" and urged her to continue.
"But it wasn't that much of a problem. Raublut had already taken steps in case I couldn't open it. The High Priest and blue-robed Priests from the Central
It seemed there was an annual request from the Central Temple to open the innermost chamber for a prayer ceremony, and they had been told in advance to time the Lanzanave people's visit accordingly. On the day, Prince
"The High Priest? Not the Chief Priest?"
"He recently took up the position of High Priest. Blasius accompanied them, but I was at the detached palace, so I don't have the details."
Alstede felt useless and wanted to go home, but she endured because, as Aub, it was necessary to give the Lanzanave people Staves and ensure a good relationship with Lanzanave going forward.
On the day the Central Temple personnel arrived, the Lanzanave people made armor with magic stones just as they had practiced, and Raublut brought black cloth for mantles. Pretending to be Central Knights, they accompanied the group to the innermost chamber.
"Prince Anastasius watched the Priests arranging small Holy Cups and divine instruments for a while, then said he'd check on other parts of the Noble Academy. He left with part of the knight escort."
Prince Anastasius apparently also had the role of confirming whether it was safe for the Zent to return to normal life. The library was apparently included in his inspection route.
"After Prince Anastasius left, the door to the innermost chamber was opened by Prince Hildebrandt to obtain the Staves."
That was when Dunkelfelger took off.
The detached palace was full of Lanzanave tools.
Ferdinand was restraining himself because the situation didn't allow it, but he actually wanted to touch everything.
The story of those few days as seen through Alstede's eyes.
Next: the continuation of Alstede's story.