Ascendance of a Bookworm Page 2

  I clapped my hands together in realization. I had been kept out of the previous meetings since I was underage, and the priests didn’t want a commoner butting in on such a considerable source of money. But now that I was the High Bishop, I would apparently need to participate in every meeting. It seemed that my status of apprentice shrine maiden really had just been for show last year.

  “Fran, I know nothing of the matters within the duchy. Could I ask you to give me a brief rundown prior to the meeting?”

  Once Wilfried finished learning his letters, both he and I were going to be assigned an instructor to teach us geography and history. But that was still some time away, and I couldn’t attend a meeting about sending people across the duchy without knowing anything myself.

  “...A map will be necessary to explain, but there is no time to borrow one from the High Priest. I shall put that aside for now and explain the Harvest Festival.”

  As the name implied, the Harvest Festival was a festival where farming towns celebrated their crop harvest and expressed their gratitude to the gods. Each town needed to be visited by a blue priest and a scholar, with the priests performing ritual rites while the scholars collected taxes. In farming towns, the Harvest Festival was also apparently when baptisms, coming of age ceremonies, and wedding ceremonies were held.

  “Farming towns have such low populations that doing these events at any other time would be absurd,” Fran continued. They couldn’t feasibly be held during Spring Prayer since food was scarce from the long winter hibernation, plus everyone would be preparing to return to their summer residences.

  Fran then went on to explain that, on top of attending these ceremonies, we would need to spend the Harvest Festival collecting chalices from towns with giebes—the name for nobles who ruled over land. Compared to Spring Prayer, where we just had to go and deliver chalices and give blessings, it seemed the Harvest Festival would be quite busy.

  “It is third bell, Lady Rozemyne. Shall we head to the meeting room?” Fran asked.

  The meeting room was about as big as a school classroom, and several long tables were lined up end to end in a big rectangle. A quick glance around was enough for me to confirm that all of the blue priests were in attendance, yet half of the tables were still empty. It was obvious that we had a serious shortage of priests on our hands.

  All eyes were on me as I walked alongside the tables, eventually taking the seat that Fran had pulled out for me. I felt a little arrogant for sitting at the very end of such a long sequence of tables, but I was the High Bishop; I was of a higher status than anyone else here.

  ...Ferdinand’s always so cocky that it’s easy to forget I actually have more status than him here.

  “I will now discuss the autumn baptism ceremony, as well as the Harvest Festival,” Ferdinand declared. He listed off essential topics one by one, progressing through the meeting at a steady pace. Along the way, Egmont complained that he wasn’t being given the same locations as last time, but Ferdinand silenced him with a condescending glare. “Why would you ever think your accommodations this year would be the same as last year?”

  The scared blue priests had apparently all convinced themselves that, since I hadn’t taken action against them yet, they would be accommodated in exactly the same way they always had been. They sure were optimistic.

  “Just because Rozemyne the High Bishop has not punished you severely for your past transgressions does not mean that you will be permitted to act the same way as you always have. If you do not follow both her and my directives, expect to be banished from the temple,” Ferdinand stated coldly, knowing that the priests had no homes to return to. He then announced who would be sent where in the Noble’s Quarter for the baptism ceremonies.

  “Why aren’t you or the High Bishop performing any baptisms?” one priest asked.

  “The High Bishop and I have duties within the castle, not to mention there is the potential need for us to assist the Knight’s Order. What we do cannot be done by any of you, and thus I will have you all focus on the work that you are able to do. Furthermore, I intend to distribute future assignments based on your contributions to the greater good of the temple during the Harvest Festival.”

  “I see. Thank you for your answer.”

  Ferdinand also mentioned that the paperwork the previous High Bishop had refused to do would ultimately be distributed among the blue priests, but that seemed like something that wouldn’t be relevant for a long time yet.

  “That is all. Everyone, formulate your schedules and take care not to procrastinate.”

  In the end, the meeting concluded with me still not recognizing the names of any of the places where the priests would be sent. Fran had frantically written it all down on his diptych, so I would have him use a map to explain everything to me.

  ...Or so I thought, but Ferdinand called out to me just as I stood from my seat. “Rozemyne, I will give you more precise details this afternoon. Wait in your chambers so that I may visit you then.”

  Not long after lunch, Ferdinand arrived with Zahm, who had all sorts of documents that he began spreading out on the table. Ferdinand instructed him on where to position the map and how to order the documents, then asked me just how much I knew about the Harvest Festival.

  “Only what I heard from Fran right before the meeting. I barely know anything at all.”

  “Scholars collect taxes; priests and shrine maidens perform rituals. We also collect some of each town’s harvest as a tithe, which you may use for winter preparations,” Ferdinand explained. That food would be a huge boon for the orphanage, but I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle all the crops that would surely build up in the carriages as they went from town to town.

  “Each priest will go to fifteen different towns, right? The amount of crops they have to transport would surely build up very quickly, and wouldn’t some rot along the way?”

  “For what purpose exactly do you think the scholars are accompanying them? The collected harvest will be transported back to the castle through the use of teleportation circles.”

  According to Ferdinand, teleportation circles were types of magic circles that came in pairs: one was used to send objects, and the other to receive them. The scholar would leave for the Harvest Festival with the sending magic circle, and would then send their gathered taxes to the receiving magic circle in the castle. The food gathered by the blue priests would be teleported there as well, and they would have to go to the castle themselves to retrieve it at a later date.

  “I-I had no idea such a convenient magic tool existed...”

  “What value would there be in a magic tool that does not make life easier? Take care not to waste my time by stating the obvious.”

  Magic tools were apparently focused on practicality since they used up valuable mana, and a good magic tool was one that brought the most value to the largest number of people.

  “I think that trade would improve and even flourish if merchants could use those magic tools,” I said. They were powerful enough to send a town’s harvest across the duchy all at once; if used for trade, merchants wouldn’t have to venture along their usual dangerous routes, and lower shipping fees would reduce the price of merchandise.

  Ferdinand agreed with my idea, looking a little bored. “I, too, think that merchants would already be using the tools if they had mana of their own.”

  “Ngh... Ferdinand, I would like magic tools that can be used without mana.”

  “Such a thing would fundamentally not be a magic tool,” Ferdinand said, offering a flat response before changing the subject. “Now, regarding the Harvest Festival locations...”

  “I didn’t recognize any of the town names, and I understood next to nothing that was said in the meeting...” I confessed.

  In my lessons prior to my baptism, the only thing I had been taught that was relevant to geography was my extended family and the land they owned. But the provinces I knew were being visited by other blue priests, meaning I personally wouldn’t be going to any of them.

  “I will be explaining that now. Take a look at this map,” Ferdinand said, and Zahm spread something out on the table. It was a map just like the one Ferdinand and Karstedt had been poring over prior to Spring Prayer, with land separated by red and blue zones. “The red area is the Central District—land ruled directly by the archduke. The blue area is land ruled by giebes. As this will be your first Harvest Festival, I have assigned you to towns relatively close to Ehrenfest,” Ferdinand said, before pointing at various towns and labeling them “day one” and “day two” while Fran listed their names.

  “You say close to Ehrenfest, but we seem to be going pretty far north and south.”

  “That is because you will be gathering materials at the same time,” Ferdinand said, putting his finger on a place called Dorvan. It was the southernmost town I would be visiting. “The forest on the edge of Dorvan contains the feyplant known as a ruelle, which bears fruit on nights with a full moon. It is a known fact that autumn mana is strongest on the Night of Schutzaria, and that it is easier to gather Wind materials of potent magical energy then.”

  “‘The Night of Schutzaria’? You mean the final full moon of autumn, when Ewigeliebe the God of Life resurrects, and Schutzaria the Goddess of Wind uses all of her strength to prevent him from reaching the Goddess of Earth?” I asked, thinking back to the legend I had read in the bible.

  Ferdinand nodded. “It is good to see that your reading is producing results. Indeed, a ruelle fruit gathered on the Night of Schutzaria will be necessary to brew your jureve. Of all the autumn materials that can be gathered within Ehrenfest, the ruelle has the highest purity of Wind—the element of autumn—while also having an enormous quantity of mana within it, making it the best quality material th
at one could ask for.”

  “What do you mean by ‘highest purity’?”

  “A material that has one dominant element and only minor contamination from other elements is said to have high purity. In contrast, a material with multiple elements of similar strength is said to be multi-elemental.”

  The potion I needed, known as a jureve, apparently required high-purity materials from each season, so it would take me at least a full year to get everything I needed. And since my mana had hardened so long ago that I didn’t even remember when exactly it had happened, I would need materials of the highest possible quality.

  “As I must depart for the Harvest Festival myself, I will not be accompanying you.”

  “Even though we did Spring Prayer together?”

  “That was because we were faced by various dangers at the time, and there were also matters that I needed to investigate.”

  It seemed we would be doing things separately this time. That seemed a bit bold, since this was going to be my first Harvest Festival. My face clouded with unease, but Ferdinand waved a hand at me dismissively. “It will be fine. In addition to your existing knights, I will assign Eckhart and Justus to guard you. Listen well to what they say.”

  I tilted my head, not recognizing one of those names. “I know Eckhart, but who is Justus?”

  “The tax official who will be accompanying you, and Rihyarda’s son.”

  I had a feeling that Rihyarda’s son would be someone I could rely on. Ferdinand had probably selected knights who would pose no potential threat to me, and both Eckhart and Rihyarda’s son were close to the archduke in their own ways.

  “Both the material gathering and the Harvest Festival will go smoothly if you follow their instructions. When the time comes, I shall deliver the tools that you will need to gather the ruelle.”

  “I see you will still be working hard for my sake. I thank you ever so much,” I said, surprised by how thorough he was being. I could tell that he was determined to make sure the gathering was a success no matter what.

  “There is still time before the middle of autumn when the Harvest Festival will begin. In the meantime, master flying your highbeast. Oh, and I received word from Benno—it seems he would like us to send the gray priests to Hasse’s orphanage.”

  “Yes, I heard.” Benno had told me that the doors were now fitted and all the essential furniture had been brought inside. All that was left was moving the gray priests and shrine maidens over and getting them set up before the Harvest Festival.

  “He has asked that we assign soldiers from the gate to protect the priests as they travel with all their food and goods,” Ferdinand continued.

  There certainly was a lot of stuff we had to transport from our orphanage to theirs, and while Hasse was only half a day away from Ehrenfest, thieves would no doubt target us if we started transporting loads of goods day after day. In fact, we had apparently already been targeted. We would need guards, but soldiers wouldn’t be able to accompany regular merchants under normal circumstances; soldiers only acted when the city needed to be protected, or when the archduke ordered them to.

  “We can assign guards to them since the Gilberta Company is working on the archduke’s orders, right?”

  “Indeed. I was thinking of giving this duty to the commander of the eastern gate, if you have no objections,” Ferdinand said, glancing my way. He was talking about Dad.

  “I’ll go by carriage, too!” I exclaimed, shooting my hand up in excitement at the prospect of seeing him. I had been planning to go by highbeast since I’m not a big fan of carriages, but if it means I get to see Dad then I’m all for it!

  “You fool! A daughter of the archduke would be guarded by the Knight’s Order if she were to travel outside the city by carriage. A mere commoner soldier would not be needed, nor would they be of any help whatsoever.”

  “Aww, what?!” ...I thought this was my chance to see him. This sucks.

  As I slumped my shoulders, hope turning to despair in an instant, Ferdinand rubbed his temples. “Let people finish speaking before you jump to conclusions,” he sighed. “You and I will be traveling with your guard knights by highbeast, but while you are staying in Hasse, I intend to entrust the soldiers with guarding you. You will likely get many opportunities to see him once you are in Hasse itself. Good grief...”

  Ferdinand’s exasperated explanation shot my spirits back up, and I gave my thanks to the gods with a broad smile on my face.

  Once Ferdinand had finished his explanations, I returned to the orphanage director’s chambers. I immediately asked Monika to fetch Lutz and Gil from the workshop, then eagerly awaited their arrival.

  As soon as they showed up, I entrusted Damuel with guarding me and immediately entered the hidden room, pretending not to hear him mutter “Am I going to have to see that again?”

  “Lutz! Luuuutz!” I sang as I leapt into his arms. It seemed he couldn’t keep up with my bubbling energy as he immediately gave in and hugged me back, warning me in a tired voice that I was going to catch a fever again.

  “Eheheh. Guess what? Dad’s going to be assigned to guard the gray priests heading to Hasse’s orphanage. I’m going to see him again for the first time in ages,” I explained, feeling so happy that I could dance.

  Lutz blinked several times, then gave me a confused frown. “...Huh? Master Benno said that the nobles would be traveling by highbeast, so not even the guards would get to see them. I heard from Tuuli and Mr. Otto that Mr. Gunther got so depressed over it that he was barely working at all.”

  Word about the guard duty had apparently already reached the gate, and Dad had leapt at the opportunity the second he heard. Only later did he learn that I would be traveling by highbeast, and now he was so depressed that he’d been complaining each and every day about not wanting to go to work. In other words, he had gotten just as depressed as I had over us not being able to meet.

  This sure is a weird thing connecting us... I thought, chuckling a little before explaining the circumstances to Lutz. “While it’s true that I’ll be traveling to Hasse by highbeast, the soldiers will be assigned to guard me while I’m there, so Ferdinand said we’d get to see each other every now and again.”

  “Really?! Man, I’ve gotta go tell Mr. Gunther about that. He’s so depressed right now, and that’s just what we need to motivate him again.”

  “Uh huh. Tell him I’m looking forward to seeing him, too! Oh, I’ll write a letter to him,” I said, hastily scrawling “I can’t wait to see you in Hasse. Good luck at work!” on a sheet of paper which I folded and handed to Lutz.

  The next day, Lutz came back with a grin to tell me how delivering the news had gone. Dad had apparently sprung back to life after reading the letter, so full of energy that it was almost comical. Mom and Tuuli had laughed about how nothing they’d said could cheer him up, yet a single letter had worked magic on him.

  Hasse’s Monastery

  Today was the day that the gray priests and shrine maidens were due to move to Hasse. Two carriages that had been provided by Benno were lined up by the temple’s back gate connecting to the lower city. Everyone in the orphanage had gathered to see them off as three priests stepped into one carriage and three shrine maidens into the other. Mark would be riding with the gray priests, while Lutz would be with the shrine maidens.

  “Please take care, everyone.”

  “Thank you. I will watch over your esteemed gray priests, Lady Rozemyne,” Mark said while kneeling. I gave him a courteous nod, there as the representative of the orphanage, but I couldn’t help but look right over Mark’s shoulders as I did. He and Lutz gave wry grins and followed my gaze.

  There knelt a single soldier. Despite having been ordered to guard the priests from the east gate to Hasse, Dad had come to the temple to see the priests leave in their carriages. I greeted him as well, barely holding back my smile.

  “I will soon be leaving for Hasse myself,” I said. “I entrust guarding the priests to you.”