Schtappe Acquisition
I spent the morning working on study documents and practicing the harspiel. Rosina had instructed me to practice from breakfast to third bell, just like I would in the temple, and everyone else had ended up following suit. As a result, we all gathered in the common room and played together. I was preparing for my tea party with the professors, while everyone else was practicing at their respective skill levels.
More and more students from the other grades were finishing their written lessons as well, and it wasn’t long before near enough everyone was practicing together. Some people tried studying in their rooms, but the noise must have been too much, as they usually came back a short while later with their harspiels in hand.
“I’ve been practicing a lot less recently, since I haven’t been able to secure regular practice time in the dormitory,” one student said. “With each year I advance, I get less praise from my music teachers in class.”
“Then perhaps it would be wise to permanently establish this period as harspiel practice time,” I replied.
While I was practicing the songs I planned to debut at the tea party, Rosina started mercilessly purging the lyrics I had come up with myself.
“Lady Rozemyne, as this is a song dedicated to Mestionora the Goddess of Wisdom, might I suggest praising the Grutrissheit instead of the library?”
She went on to explain that the Grutrissheit was the original bible, owned by Mestionora herself. The first king of the country had been chosen by the gods and permitted to transcribe a copy. I decided it was best to leave the lyrics to Rosina, and soon enough, my passionate lines about the library were reworked into verses admiring Mestionora, peppered with all sorts of theological references.
But, well... I guess this is okay. I’d rather this than everyone getting even more weirded out about my love of the library, plus it greatly reduces the risk of me accidentally blessing everyone while I sing...
“Actually, Rosina, would you mind completely rewriting the song? I’ve got a feeling that my lyrics about the library are going to result in me giving a blessing during my performance.”
“Oh my, but what is wrong with giving a blessing while praying to the gods and singing a song in their honor?” she replied. It seemed that her understanding of things was somewhat distorted, which was honestly to be expected when she had been raised in the temple—the house of the gods—beneath an art-loving shrine maiden. I doubted she realized that giving such a blessing at the Royal Academy would cause quite the stir.
“I am doing my best to give as few blessings as possible,” I explained.
“...If you insist, Lady Rozemyne. I will refrain from using any lyrics related to the library.”
Harspiel practice came to an end at third bell, at which point I started helping Hartmut with his scholar study guides while simultaneously learning more about the scholar course itself.
“Lady Rozemyne, are you also intending to take the scholar course?” he asked.
“Indeed. I intend to become a librarian, so I shall be taking the scholar course alongside the archduke candidate course. I have already discussed this matter with Ferdinand,” I replied while reading about the coursework for third-years.
“Are you not aiming to become Aub Ehrenfest?”
“Not once have I ever even considered it. As I said, I wish to become a librarian, so that role would do nothing but waste my time and effort. My current dream is to use my position as the Saint of Ehrenfest to conquer the temple’s book room, or alternatively conquer the castle’s book room while assisting the archduke. My ambition burns for nothing else.”
My ultimate goal was to marry whoever owned the largest library and then sit among its bookshelves forevermore, but I naturally couldn’t say that to my retainer.
“With this in mind, if you ever come to realize that serving me will only be a dead end for your career, please do tell me,” I continued. “I will allow you to leave without any hard feelings.”
My schtappe acquisition lesson was being held in the afternoon. Schtappes were the perfect tool for efficiently and accurately wielding the mana within oneself, and only once I had my own could I become an official noble. Ferdinand had mentioned that several researchers had attempted to make tools even more effective than schtappes in the past, but none had succeeded; the quality of the material that went into making schtappes was just on an entirely different level.
Schtappe acquisition had initially taken place when third-years were being split into their specialized courses, but around ten years ago, the current king had changed things so that they would be acquired as soon as new students entered the Academy. As far as he was concerned, the faster one learned to use their schtappe, the better.
From what I had been told, schtappe acquisition consisted of acquiring the Divine Will that served as the raw material for one’s schtappe and then returning with it. That was the entire class, but it was an important event for becoming an adult noble. The first-years all looked pretty excited on their way to the auditorium, while the older students on their way to their own lessons cheerfully urged them to calm down with nostalgic expressions.
“Were there always this many first-years?” I mused aloud, blinking in surprise. The entire grade was gathered in the auditorium for the schtappe acquisition.
“It only feels that way because you no longer have any written classes,” Philine replied with a small smile. The sight didn’t come as much of a shock to her because she was still attending geography and history classes, but as someone who hadn’t gone to one since passing my exams, this was my first time seeing so many first-years gathered in one place in quite a while.
The busy auditorium fell silent the moment the professors appeared. Primevere stepped forward, then looked across the gathered students.
“Everyone is here, I see. I will soon be guiding everyone to the Farthest Hall, starting with the archduke candidates, but first, there is one rule you must all obey under any circumstances: do not touch anyone after you have gathered your Divine Will. It must be dyed with your mana and your mana alone in order to produce a high-quality schtappe. Space yourselves out such that you do not bump into anyone on the way back, and spend Earthday tomorrow filling the Divine Will with mana.”
Once all the archduke candidates were lined up, Primevere took the lead. There was a door at the back of the auditorium which led into another room.
Wow! There’s a chapel here?!
It was a pure-white room, with circular pillars spaced out at equal distances on either side of us. The farthest wall had a multicolored mosaic built into it from the ceiling to the floor, and in the middle of the room was a forty-some step staircase going up three stories high, on which were offerings for and statues of the gods. At the very top were the King and Queen gods; on a lower step was the Goddess of Earth, who was holding a chalice; then on an even lower step were the Goddess of Water, God of Fire, Goddess of Wind, and God of Life, all positioned in a line.
I wonder what my attendants back at the temple are doing... I thought to myself, the familiar sight of the shrine having made me feel somewhat nostalgic. I knew they were most likely doing well, since they had managed just fine without me for two whole years, but I couldn’t suppress my sudden urge to see Fran and the others.
It seemed I was the only one who felt homesick upon seeing the altar; everyone else was too busy gasping in awe.
“This is the Farthest Hall, the place closest to the gods,” Primevere explained. “Everyone here shall only be given one opportunity to gather their Divine Will. As mentioned, take an exceptional amount of care not to bump into anyone else once you have yours. There are two paths—one for those entering and one for those exiting—so make sure to take the left path on your way back, no matter what.”
With that, Primevere reached out to a feystone. An instant later, the shrine’s staircase began rumbling as it moved slowly to one side, revealing a gaping square hole that led deeper into the shrine.
“May you have the gods’ protection and guidance.”
At Primevere’s encouragement, the first archduke candidates stepped into the hole, their expressions tense. Wilfried and I followed after them. The shrine was made out of the same ivory stone as the Royal Academy and the dormitory, and even the hole was perfectly paved on all sides.
Our footsteps echoed as we pressed onward. The path wasn’t particularly narrow, and there was enough space for three people to walk next to each other.
About five meters in, the square hallway suddenly became less uniform. The floor continued on, providing an ivory path for us to walk on, but the walls and ceiling were now made of crude rock. The hole had brought us into a natural cave. The only light source was the ivory path that glowed underfoot, which would guide us to the exit on our way back.
“Who knew a place like this would be behind a chapel shrine...?” I mumbled, looking around a little before continuing on. The ivory path snaked through the wide curves of the cave, and it seemed we were going ever upward. There were several staircases along the way, with another one popping up after a short walk. After a while, I could almost feel how much higher up we were.
I’ve been power walking for so long... I’m going to lose my breath any moment now...
Even with all the enhancers on me, I was only as strong as an average person. And when combined with my short stature, I was getting steadily farther away from the front.
“Go on ahead,” I eventually said to the other candidates. “As you can see, I am shorter than you all, so it is hard for me to match your pace.”
I moved to the side to let an archduke candidate get by me. Wilfried immediately offered to accompany me, but I turned him down.
“You go on ahead, Wilfried. We won’t be able to return together anyway. But when you pass me on the way back, please do tell me how much farther I have to walk.”
“...Alright.”
Wilfried didn’t look very convinced, but he walked on with the other candidates nonetheless, repeatedly turning back to check on me.
I sighed, now walking at my own pace. I was sure I could have kept up with the others for a while longer, but it was getting harder to maintain an air of grace while constantly power walking down this seemingly endless road.
A short while after the archduke candidates had disappeared up ahead, I heard some footsteps coming from behind me. It was the archnobles. Their eyes wavered as they debated whether they should say anything to the lone candidate walking all on her own, so I told them what I had told the others and sent them on their way. Ehrenfest’s archnoble student looked back at me over and over again with a worried expression as he walked on, much like Wilfried had done.
I continued along at my own pace, and next came the mednobles. They gave me bizarre looks, which I simply ignored as I told them to go on without me.
“Lady Rozemyne?” came a voice.
“Oh. Hello, Roderick. You may go on ahead as well.”
I was partway through giving him the explanation I had repeated several times now when a mednoble from another duchy walking at the front of the group suddenly shouted, “Ah! There it is!”
“Hm? What?”
I turned my gaze to where the boy was focused, but I wasn’t at all sure what he had found. To me, he seemed to be staring at the plain rock wall; there was nothing special there that I could see. His eyes, however, were locked on one spot in particular. He stepped off the ivory road toward it, then reached out a hand. I could tell from how assured his movements were that he was definitely seeing something, and when he turned around again, his fingers were curled as though he were holding an invisible tube of some kind.
“Sorry, but could you make way?” the boy asked with a pleased smile. He cut through the group, then sped along the path back to the entrance, his eyes remaining locked on whatever was in his hands.
“Did he find something?” Roderick asked. “Did you see it, Lady Rozemyne?”
“No, it looked like he was holding nothing but air...”
Everyone who had seen the first person to find their Divine Will was immediately overcome with intrigue, and they slowed down to watch the cave walls more carefully. They were now moving at a pace I could comfortably keep up with, at which point Roderick and I started talking about the Divine Will and what kind of feystone it might be.
It wasn’t long before another person cried out—this time a girl. “I found it!” she shouted in a lively voice. Meanwhile, I could see another boy at the front of the group stray from the path and head over to the wall. Everyone who claimed to find their Divine Will knew exactly where to go, so there was no denying that they were actually there.
Roderick started looking around as well, driven by how many others were finding their Divine Will. It was clear from his expression how much he wanted to spot his.
“Ah!” he cried, his gaze suddenly focusing on a point farther ahead on the path.
“Did you find yours?” I asked.
“Yes! It’s shining beautifully!”
I couldn’t see what Roderick was looking at, as expected, but there was evidently something there. He smiled proudly and raced down the path, then reached toward the wall. I could tell he had touched something because his eyes widened in surprise, then he hugged the feystone I couldn’t see to his chest.
“Lady Rozemyne. If you will excuse me.”
“Take care not to drop it or bump into anyone,” I noted.
Roderick started making his way back, while I continued walking in the opposite direction. As everyone else was finding their feystones, some of the archnobles from earlier started walking back past us. They had evidently found theirs somewhere up ahead, and I could guess that my feystone was going to be even deeper in the cave.
I’m going to have to go all the way to the back of this cave, aren’t I...? I’m exhausted already...
I walked on at my own leisurely pace as fewer and fewer people surrounded me. Those who remained were steadily leaving the path to grab their feystones, so it was becoming both easier to walk and easier to see ahead. It was kind of sad seeing everyone leave one after another though.
Determined to continue, I walked, climbed stairs, and walked some more. It wasn’t long before there was nobody else with me, and the only people I saw were those coming back. An odd-looking line had formed, since the students were all trying to keep a fair distance away from each other, so as to avoid accidentally bumping into one another. Given that this was around where the mednobles had found most of their Divine Wills, I could guess that the archnobles were returning from much farther ahead.
Eventually, some archduke candidates started getting mixed in with the returning archnobles. I recognized everyone from my practical lessons, and soon enough, I saw Wilfried coming back among them.
“You’re still all the way back here?” he asked with widened eyes. “The archduke candidate feystones are way deeper inside.” He was cradling something in his hands as well, which encouraged me to pour some more mana into my enhancers. Doing this would make walking considerably easier, but I had to be careful about how much mana I used—if I used too much, my muscles would ache so badly tomorrow that I wouldn’t even be able to move.
I slowly increased my pace, aiming for the farthest point of the cave. Soon enough, there weren’t even any candidates walking back. I truly was alone, the only noise being the light patter of my echoing footsteps. I climbed more stairs, found nothing on the walls, and then climbed yet more stairs. The lack of people and repetitive scenery was boring to say the least.
“Where are youuu, my precious little feystone? I’m so tiiired...”
Of course, there was no response; my words merely echoed through the cave. The ivory path led to yet another staircase, but this one was unique—while the others had contained reasonably few steps, this was a spiral staircase that seemed to go up an entire story.
“Guuuh... Another staircase. Seriously, how far am I gonna have to walk?” I grumbled while starting to climb the white spiral staircase. My surroundings got brighter the higher I climbed, until eventually...
“Wooow.”
I exited into a white plaza. It seemed to be a dead end, since there was no longer a path going forward. The ivory floor was now circular, and in the middle was a large sculpture of a tree that seemed to be made of the same ivory substance as everything else. Its white branches covered in equally white leaves extended outward, stretching up to a large hole in the middle of the ceiling through which light was streaming down.
At the base of the tree was a feystone glowing a rainbow of colors. It was sticking straight up out of the ground and looked a lot like a vertical crystal hexagon. It stretched all the way up to my stomach.
Aah. This is it. This is my stone.
Just as everyone had said, I recognized the feystone in an instant. The sunlight streaming through the tree branches made it turn all sorts of different colors. It was like a dream, and with a sense of reverence in my heart, I started making my way toward the stone. It gleamed as I came closer.
“I’ll be taking this...”
I knelt in front of the Divine Will and reached my hands out. The second I touched its surface, it slid up out of the ground and started floating in front of me, as if asking me to take it. I hugged the Divine Will to my chest as it shone a variety of colors, then let out a pleased sigh.
“Okay. Time to go back.”
I would need to take the Divine Will all the way back to the entrance of the tunnel, and so with it firmly secured in my arms, I tried pouring more mana into my enhancers.
“Wha...?”
Any mana I tried pouring into the enhancers was immediately sucked up by my feystone. I wouldn’t be able to physically enhance myself any more than I was already, so it seemed I would need to get back in my current state. Just thinking about the long road ahead was enough to make me slump my shoulders.
Standing in place wouldn’t do me any good, so I turned my back to the massive ivory tree and started my journey back to the chapel. This time, I would be alone from start to finish.
I fearfully climbed down the spiral staircase, cradling the feystone in both arms all the while. Once again, the only noise was the echo of my footsteps. The way back was certainly easier, since I was going down rather than up, but my lack of stamina was really starting to show.
“Okay, okay. I need a break,” I said to myself. “Even with the enhancers, this is exhausting...”
Somewhere along the way back, I sat down on a set of stairs to rest with the feystone still in my arms. Everything looked so identical that I had no idea how much farther I needed to go. I leaned against the wall and let out a heavy sigh, praying that the exit was nearby, and it was then that the exhaustion hit me like a strong wave. I could feel my eyelids starting to droop, and soon enough, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, my consciousness slipped away.
“DON’T GO TO SLEEP! YOU’LL DIE IF YOU DO!” came a sudden roar. “WAKE UP! STAND! YOUR LIFE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN!”
“Bwuh?!”
The voice echoed through the cave like thunder, making my ears ring. I shot up at once, only to see Rauffen waiting nearby, his fists tightly clenched with determination as he continued calling out to me.
“Whew! Good to see you’re back on your feet,” he said, stepping back a little to reveal the other professors standing behind him. Hirschur came forward to take his place, then explained the circumstances to me. It seemed that I had taken so very long to return that they had thought it necessary to send out a search party for me.
Hirschur had initially gone alone. She had been certain that I hadn’t gotten lost, given that this was a linear pathway, and she soon found me passed out against the wall. Since I already had my Divine Will, however, she wasn’t able to touch me. She had no choice but to try calling out to me, but I didn’t respond no matter how hard she tried.
In a panic, Hirschur had rushed back to the chapel, then returned with several other professors. Only when Rauffen, the loudest of them all, shouted at me did I finally wake up again.
“I had heard you were in poor health, and for a moment there, I was truly worried you had died,” Hirschur said.
“My apologies...”
“Ferdinand had told me you were not fully healthy again, but you seemed to be doing just fine in the Royal Academy, so I ended up letting my guard down,” she admitted while gesturing for me to follow her out.
And that was how the Saint of Ehrenfest nearly climbed the towering stairway on her journey to acquire her Divine Will. It hadn’t been my intention, but I was now the focus of yet another new legend in Royal Academy history.
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