Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.6 - Chapter 4

Schtappe Transformation

I entered the Small Hall and saw that the usually pure-white floor was covered with a large cloth. It was embroidered with a magic circle much like the one Ferdinand and the tax officials used for teleporting things. I examined it, wondering what it was going to be used for, when suddenly I made eye contact with Rauffen. He was standing in front of the cloth with his hands on his waist and his feet planted firmly on the ground.

“Oho! Lady Rozemyne! Now I’m looking forward to class!” he said with a grin wide enough to flash his pearly whites. I had no idea what he was so excited about, so I gave a polite smile in response and then began looking for Hannelore. I needed to invite her to the tea party for bookworms.

I glanced around the hall excitedly and soon found Hannelore talking to Wilfried. It was usually best to avoid interrupting so that I wouldn’t come across as rude, but that wouldn’t be a problem in this case.

“Good day, Wilfried, Lady Hannelore.”

“You’re pretty late, Rozemyne,” Wilfried said.

“So it may seem, but I came here straight from the library, walking as fast as I could.”

Hannelore smiled. “You were at the library, Lady Rozemyne?” she asked.

“Indeed. I supplied Schwartz and Weiss with mana while the first-years were being registered.”

“Schwartz and Weiss must be doing well, then. Now I wish to go to the library myself...”

As expected, Hannelore was invested in the library. My heart swelled with joy, and I moved right to talking about the tea party. I would bring it up today and then have my attendants send a formal invitation at a later date.

“I was speaking with Professor Solange about your wish to join the Library Committee,” I said. “Would you mind attending a tea party of bookworms, perhaps?”

“A tea party of bookworms?” she repeated.

“Yes. Professor Solange is the only librarian at the moment, and she cannot leave the library. She was hoping to hold a tea party while there are still few students visiting. How fares your schedule, Lady Hannelore?”

“Let me think...” Hannelore looked up toward the ceiling, deep in thought. “I am due to finish my written classes relatively soon, so a morning ten or so days from now would seem feasible.”

“In that case, I will prepare for the tea party and invite the both of you. Of course, the tea party itself is going to be held in the library.”

“I am looking forward to it,” Hannelore said with a pleased smile. A beat later, fourth-and-a-half bell rang, so we stopped our chatting and turned to face the teacher. Primevere was here too, but Rauffen stood out due to the excitement shining in his eyes.

“Alright, everyone’s here?” Rauffen asked in a loud voice after the final chime of the bell, his eyes sweeping over the gathered students. “Today, we’re going to be morphing our schtappes. Your goal for this year is to learn to make weapons and shields.”

Whoo, boy... Professor Rauffen sure seems lively today.

“Protecting oneself and one’s duchies requires power—the power to fight! And that doesn’t just apply to knights!” Rauffen declared. He then went on to describe the role that Dunkelfelger had played in Yurgenschmidt history and extol the importance of personal combat prowess.

“Members of an archducal family need to have the power to protect their own duchies!” he continued, his fists passionately clenched. “In the end, only the archduke can defend their foundation magic. Now, it’s obvious that archknights serving archducal families need to have their battle prowess honed to a fine edge, but attendants need to be able to protect their lords and ladies too. The same goes for scholars. Danger can strike at any moment, and you can hardly call yourself a retainer if you can’t even buy time for the archduke to escape. Strength! Strength is more important than anything!”

The boys listened with sparkling eyes, while the girls seemed mostly disinterested; the contrast between the sexes was apparent at a glance. I did see some girls listening with enthusiasm, though. No doubt they were aiming to be apprentice knights.

It’s almost uncomfortable how intensely Professor Rauffen feels about this, but... he’s not wrong. Everyone needs good offense and defense. Danger really can strike at any moment.

A noble from another duchy could go on a rampage in your temple, kidnappers could break into your duchy’s castle... Of course, I was drawing from my own personal experiences, but the point remained—it was the duty of nobles with plentiful mana to protect themselves and others. It seemed the future apprentice scholars and attendants weren’t quite getting it, though. They looked confused. Perhaps they hadn’t experienced danger for themselves now that the civil war was over.

Primevere stepped in front of Rauffen with a composed smile. She looked over the girls, then said in a gentle voice: “I imagine many of you believe that you need only leave fighting to the knights and men. Those of you who do are gravely mistaken. Women need the power to protect themselves more than anyone; we must not allow boorish men of ill intent to get near us.”

Several of the previously unenthused girls snapped their heads up, now with a more serious look in their eyes. Primevere gave one brisk nod upon seeing this and then returned the stage to Rauffen.

“Glad to see you’re all so motivated now,” Rauffen said. “Alright. Let’s start with shields!”

Each kind of weapon had its own strengths and weaknesses, and apprentice knights naturally took interest in different weapons than apprentice scholars and attendants. Shields, however, were equal. After explaining his intention to start with something that applied to us all, Rauffen took out several shields from the magic circle with Primevere. They were long and rectangular with simple Wind magic circles engraved into them.

“We made these out of metal to help you all form a consistent, uniform shape,” Rauffen said. “Envision this shield and chant ‘geteilt’ to transform your schtappe. Like this!”

Rauffen chanted “geteilt” and, as expected, his schtappe morphed into a shield. The sight reminded me—during ditter last year, the apprentice knights from Dunkelfelger had used shields that were almost identical to the ones used by our own apprentice knights. I nodded to myself, realizing that this was because everyone learned to make them the same way in this class.

“Having the shields be a uniform size makes it easier to line them side by side, which lets you block large-scale attacks together,” Rauffen continued. “And since geteilts are made of mana, they aren’t heavy either. Even the frailest girl shouldn’t have a problem holding one.”

The shields were made with the expectation that knights would use them, but even so, they were comfortably light. As the frailest girl in the room, I sure appreciated that. I moved to make one myself, at which point Rauffen raised his shield high into the air to show the simple magic circle on it.

“Each shield should have this magic circle engraved on it,” he said. “This strengthens its defensive power by adding the protection of the Goddess of Wind. Get this circle right and you’ll have Schutzaria’s shield.”

Hm? But in that case, wouldn’t I get better results by envisioning Schutzaria’s divine instrument in the temple instead?

Its magic circles were a lot more complexly woven than those on the simple shield, and it was dotted with feystones to boot. Wilma had drawn the shield for karuta and picture books, so when I made Wind shields, I always envisioned the divine instrument.

That said, I’m not too sure how I would turn Schutzaria’s shield into a rectangle.

Schutzaria’s shield was, in my mind, circular. And when one wanted to protect oneself and others in a wide area, hemispherical shields were generally ideal. Making a standard rectangular shield was simple enough but trying to overwrite what was already such a clear mental image for me was much more complicated. By trying to force things, I would probably end up making it harder for myself to make proper Wind shields from this point onward. I alone was frowning at my hands while Hannelore, Wilfried, and the others practiced geteilt.

“Lady Rozemyne, why are you wearing such a deep frown?” Hannelore asked.

“Is this lesson really that difficult?” Wilfried added. They were both peering down at me as I continued to frown, having not even formed my schtappe yet.

“I’m struggling because Schutzaria’s shield is round in my mind,” I replied. “We have to visualize it as a rectangle instead, but this is much too sudden of a request.”

“Schutzaria’s shield is circular? Have you seen it before, Lady Rozemyne?” Hannelore asked, looking at me quizzically. It seemed that the average noble didn’t even know the shapes of the divine instruments, since they never visited their temples.

“The divine shields that decorate shrines are circular,” I explained. “I simply feel much more familiar with that shape.”

“Why not go ask Professor Rauffen if you can use a circular shield instead, then?” Wilfried suggested.

“At this rate, I will not be able to pass in one day. I suppose it cannot hurt to try...” I mused. Rauffen was looking over the students, so I approached and made my request. “May I use a circular shield instead? As one raised in the temple, I am much more familiar with the circular divine instrument than any other shield.”

“I understand your problem, Lady Rozemyne, but all apprentice knights need rectangular shields,” he replied with a frown. “You can’t practice with everyone else otherwise.”

I struggled to understand. Perhaps it was important for apprentice knights to have uniform shields so that they could train alongside others, but I was an archduke candidate; I had no intention of fighting in any squadrons.

“Professor Rauffen, I am an archduke candidate,” I said. “I do not plan to fight in groups, so I am confident that a circular shield will serve me just fine.”

Rauffen looked at me with folded arms and an even deeper frown, apparently as confused as me. “You’re Lord Ferdinand’s disciple and you’re not going to take the knight course?” he asked. “Why not?”

“Why not...? Because I’m not interested,” I replied plainly.

Rauffen’s jaw dropped so suddenly that I feared it might dislocate. He shook his head desperately and muttered, “No, this can’t be...” Then, after a moment, his eyes widened in apparent realization. “But what about ditter?!” he exclaimed. “You can’t participate in ditter without taking knight courses!”

“I do not understand why you are so surprised, Professor Rauffen. I am not particularly interested in ditter to begin with.”

“What?!”

Hold on a second... Does he think I’m a ditter fan?!

The next thing I knew, Rauffen was extolling the virtues of ditter. My eyes desperately flitted around the hall; I could guess that he wouldn’t be willing to return to the topic of shields for quite some time.

S-Someone! Heeelp!

My pleading stare was met by none other than Primevere. She placed a hand on her cheek, muttered, “Oh dear,” and then walked over with all the elegance of a calmly flowing stream. “You mustn’t speak of ditter so needlessly during class, Rauffen.”

“But Primevere. Lady Rozemyne said—”

Primevere raised a hand to interrupt him. “Do show us your shield, dear,” she said to me with a kind smile. She positively exuded strength and reliability despite her soft demeanor, so I nodded and started pouring mana into my schtappe. I closed my eyes and visualized Schutzaria’s shield. I didn’t have anyone to protect, so I decided that something the size of a larger pot lid should do.

I chanted “geteilt” and a shield of Schutzaria just like the ones I had made through prayer many times before appeared in my hand. It was yellow to match her divine color and partly translucent, and on its surface was a magic circle that looked on the outside like a complex decorative pattern. It was just as I had envisioned it.

“It’s a divine instrument...” Rauffen said, surprised, staring closely at my shield. A buzz ran through the surrounding students as well; there was unfortunately no helping it, considering that I was the only person with a circular shield while everyone else focused on making rectangular ones.

This is all for the sake of passing. I need to pass today.

I eyed the professors with my shield in hand, wanting to know whether I would pass or fail. Primevere looked at the shield and then nodded with a smile. “Now, let us see whether it functions,” she said.

“Right. Ready your shield!” Rauffen declared, his expression betraying his determination. He pulled a feystone out from a leather pouch at his side and pinched it between his thumb and index finger to show its size—about half as large as his thumb. Then, he wound up his arm and threw the feystone at my shield.

“Eep!”

I knew that my shield would protect me, but the sight of what was essentially a rock closing in on me at such tremendous speed was terrifying nonetheless. I instinctively started pouring mana into my shield.

The moment the feystone made contact, it shot back in the direction it had come from with a resounding bang. A gust of wind from my shield pushed Rauffen away, and at the same time, one of the bracelets on the wrist I was using to hold the shield started to glow. One of the protective charms on me had activated; it seemed to have registered the thrown feystone as a hostile attack on my person.

“Professor Rauffen! Defend yourself!” I shouted. “A counterattack is coming!”

“Geteilt!”

Rauffen must have been used to battle, as his expression changed the instant he saw my bracelet begin to glow. He leapt up and formed a shield at the same time as I shouted my warning. A breath later, attack magic shot out of my bracelet and flew straight at him. His quick reaction meant he was able to block it, which made me sigh in relief.

“What was that, Lady Rozemyne?” he asked.

“A charm that Ferdinand gave me for protection, in case something happened. You’re lucky. Since you only threw a feystone and nothing else, the charm’s counterattack was at minimum power.”

“That was minimum power?!” Rauffen yelped. He was looking at me in wide-eyed shock, but the charm that had activated was the weakest of all the brutal and terrifying ones that Ferdinand was affording me. The attack wouldn’t have proven fatal—it would have hurt to high heaven, but Rauffen would have survived.

Incidentally, Ferdinand had mentioned that the most brutal of all the charms likewise wouldn’t kill the attacker. I could still remember the twisted grin he had worn when telling me.

“My reason for having these charms is a secret,” I said. “Now, that aside... Do I pass?”

“You did manage to recreate a divine instrument... Very well. Your shield passes, Lady Rozemyne,” Primevere said with a smile.

Having completed my task, I chanted “rucken” to return my schtappe to its original form and then decided to return to Wilfried and Hannelore. The moment I turned around, however, everyone stepped aside, opening up a path for me. The fear that tinged their expressions was no doubt directed at Ferdinand’s charms. Still, they had gone through the trouble of allowing me past, so I walked through them and over to Wilfried.

“I passed. It seems that, while apprentice knights must have uniform shields, an archduke candidate such as I may use a circular design,” I said to him informatively.

“Rozemyne, is that really all you have to say about what just happened...?” Wilfried asked, cradling his head in his hands. I racked my brain for what else he might want me to explain.

“Let’s see... Oh, right. The divine instrument shield uses more complex magic circles, which apparently boosts its defense. Since you will not be taking the knight course either, Wilfried, you might want to make one as well.”

“That’s not what I mean. You sure have some deadly charms, huh? Couldn’t you at least take them off during practical lessons? You’re clearly putting everyone in danger,” Wilfried clarified, his brow furrowed as he shook his head at me.

He was right that the charms were dangerous, but they would only activate when I was attacked. More importantly, Ferdinand had deemed it necessary for me to wear them; I couldn’t just remove them without consulting him.

“It is not my intention to bring danger to others,” I said. “I will allow you to remove them, but only if you can acquire permission from Ferdinand. Will you consult him?”

Wilfried immediately shook his head in response, wearing the fake smile of a noble all the while.

“That’s enough focusing on shields,” Rauffen announced. “If you want to practice more, do it on your own time.”

Hannelore exhaled; she could make a shield on the spot, but adding the magic circle was proving too much for her. Wilfried, meanwhile, was agonizing over whether he should go with the standard rectangular shield that everyone else was using or the more powerful divine shield. It seemed that he was feeling quite pressured, since he needed to decide and start locking the image in his mind. He was having such a hard time precisely because he knew Schutzaria’s shield so clearly from karuta and the bible.

“Ngh... I’ve spent the whole lesson thinking about this!” Wilfried groaned.

“You are not being denied your paradise until you finish your classes, Wilfried, so I would suggest you take your time and relax. That is how you came up with your crest-emblazoned schtappe last year, correct?” I asked. He had spent a lot of time agonizing over that too. With enough time, perhaps he would think up an impressive-looking shield as well.

As we continued our conversation, Rauffen and Primevere began taking weapon after weapon out of the teleportation circle. They lined up a sword, a spear, a scythe, an axe... I noted that they were all melee weapons.

“No bows, I see. Strange, since Ferdinand used one...” I muttered to myself.

“Bows are more complicated, I am told, since it requires so much practice to shoot them accurately. That is why they are not taught here, in this basic class,” Hannelore explained, evidently having overheard me. “Archery is first taught in the knight course.”

“Your knowledge is impressive, Lady Hannelore,” I replied.

“Dunkelfelger has a greater proportion of knights than other duchies, so the apprentice knights always end up the center of conversation in our dormitory...” Hannelore said shyly, lowering her eyes. It seemed that the mood there was similar to a boys’ locker room back on Earth. I hoped the quiet, book-loving Hannelore didn’t stick out too much.

“Next up are weapons,” Rauffen said. “I’m sure that some of the would-be scholars and attendants among us have never seen these up close before. Pick the one you like the most and morph your schtappe into it. Apprentice knights will need to learn to wield a sword and one other weapon. Understood?”

With that, everyone moved over to the weapons. Wilfried seemed to be walking in a particular hurry; he was probably fairly interested in them too.

“Chant ‘schwert’ for a sword, ‘lanze’ for a spear, ‘riesesichel’ for a scythe, ‘axt’ for an axe, and...”

As Rauffen listed the chants for the various weapons, I thought about which I would prefer. In terms of actually creating the weapon, spears would most likely be the simplest. I could immediately visualize Leidenschaft’s spear, thanks to having seen it on a daily basis and even holding it in my hands before.

The problem is whether I could actually use it...

“Lady Rozemyne, will you not be looking at the weapons?” Hannelore asked.

“I do not need to,” I replied. “I can already create one.”

“You can? Is it perhaps another divine instrument?” Her red eyes sparkled as she leaned forward, gazing at me intently. She looked so hopeful, and I would never let a friend of mine down.

“Lady Hannelore... Would you like to see Leidenschaft’s spear?”

“May I?”

I took out my schtappe and closed my eyes, visualizing Leidenschaft’s spear. It was the same weapon I had used to slay the schnesturm, and it was so thoroughly engraved in my memory that I could even remember the number and the size of the feystones embedded into it.

Beneath thick ashen clouds prowled the schnesturm, the source of the pure-white blizzard buffeting the flurry of yellow-capes fighting to end the winter. Above it all, I was gripping Leidenschaft’s spear, pouring in my mana until it reached its limit and started glowing blue. The magic circles were clear in my mind.

“Lanze.”

A spear just as I envisioned appeared in my hands. Perhaps because I had been visualizing the schnesturm battle, it was pulsating with blue light as though it were filled with mana, which made it look especially threatening.

“Is that Leidenschaft’s spear...?” Hannelore whispered, awestruck. “It looks so beautiful.”

Rauffen grimaced at the glowing spear and ran over. “Rozemyne, what is that?!” he demanded, clearly on guard.

“Leidenschaft’s spear. I was raised in the temple, so it’s the weapon I’m most familiar with,” I replied. It was a preprepared answer, intended to explain my familiarity with the divine instruments. “Do I need to test this as well, Professor Rauffen?”

“With that much mana in it, who knows what might happen...” Rauffen muttered. “I’ll give you a passing grade. Just unmorph it, please.” He went on to groan that he could have seen its destructive power with his own eyes had we only been in the knight building, but that was too bad. I chanted “rucken” and returned my schtappe to its usual form.

“Lady Rozemyne, I thank you ever so much for showing me such a wondrous sight,” Hannelore said. Leidenschaft’s spear was a little too cumbersome for me to want it as my primary weapon, but I had received a passing grade and my friend was happy.

Everything worked out in the end.

“Do you not need to see the weapons either, Lady Hannelore?” I asked.

“I am already familiar with them; the problem is deciding which one to settle on,” she replied. “I am not proficient with any one weapon in particular, so I am struggling to envision which would serve me best in a defensive capacity.”

“I suppose I am not particularly skilled with spears... Perhaps I will need to think of something better to protect myself with.” I started pondering the matter with Hannelore. Spears were out of the question for someone of my build, and swinging a sword around seemed impossible. I wanted something lighter and simpler.

In terms of ranged weapons, I could probably manage better with a crossbow, even if they are on the weaker side. I could even copy Ferdinand and have my arrows split apart into a rain of death to cover up my bad aim a little.

It seemed beyond obvious that I was less of a melee fighter and should spec into long-range combat. That way, I could attack both offensively and defensively. It was cowardly, sure, but that was exactly what I wanted. I cared more about my safety than my honor.

Hm... The best weapon for me is one that’s easy to use and that I can use while riding Lessy.

Unfortunately enough, during my Urano days, I hadn’t really been one to use weapons.

Maybe a kitchen knife or a sculpting knife could double as a weapon, but I don’t want to use either of those. They probably wouldn’t be very useful during a feybeast attack either. Not that I’d really know, though; I’m such a pacifist that I never considered using them for violence. Oh, but I have been on the receiving end of an attack before.

I recalled the time Shuu had taken a toy gun and shot at me when we were kids; the tip would flash with light and make a noise to simulate gunshots. He had demanded that I play dead, so I would roll around on the ground and read. Once summer came, he often shot me in the back while I was focused on my books.

“A (water gun)...?” I whispered to myself. All of a sudden, the schtappe in my hand was replaced with a translucent, cheap-looking water gun perfect for kids.

Wowee! It looks... pathetically weak!