Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.7 - Chapter 12

Interduchy Tournament (Second Year)

I was overseeing the scholar course while the Interduchy Tournament preparations were being made, but Hartmut was the one actually giving out instructions as a sixth-year archscholar. In the meantime, I was watching him work and taking notes so that I could be useful next year. The way he briskly distributed tasks and checked on others gave me a feeling that he was taking after Ferdinand and Justus, and when I mentioned that to him, he broke into a very pleased smile.

“Last year, Lord Ferdinand and Lord Justus gave me much advice,” he said. “I’m beyond proud that someone who knows them both so well would make such a comparison.”

Preparations went very smoothly thanks to Wilfried, Charlotte, and me overseeing a course each. I could focus on the apprentice scholars without thinking too much about anything else, and it was a valuable learning experience, since I could evaluate my siblings’ retainers and see how skilled they were compared to my own.

In conclusion: my apprentice scholars are in a league of their friggin’ own thanks to Ferdinand whipping them into shape.

Naturally, being skilled meant bearing a heavier burden, but my retainers were still infinitely more useful than Wilfried’s and Charlotte’s. Philine was just a laynoble, for example, so she generally stuck by Hartmut’s side and tried to refrain from standing out too much. Even so, it was clear to see how much she had grown; she easily found tasks that needed to be done just from eyeing her surroundings and managed to blaze through paperwork exceptionally fast.

Roderick, as my new retainer, was watching Philine anxiously; he was still doing his training to become Hartmut’s successor, but he was nowhere near as fast as her. “I’m going to catch up however I can,” he declared, filled with motivation. I gave him a few words of encouragement in turn and said that he was going to be made to catch up either way once he also started working with Ferdinand.

As this was Charlotte’s first year at the Royal Academy, she was paying close attention to the advice she received from her retainers, Brunhilde, and the others. Meanwhile, Wilfried was doing his best to make things up to Charlotte’s and my guard knights, who hadn’t been able to participate in training or the meeting. Things progressed smoothly, with the only pauses being for the occasional meeting to bring everyone up to speed.

“Now, let us start bringing everything to the venue,” I said. “Follow the procedure we discussed yesterday.”

The day of the Interduchy Tournament had arrived in the blink of an eye. We finished our breakfast early in the morning and then got right to work, with everyone mobilizing at my call.

“How are things going?” I asked Brunhilde.

“They’re going well, Lady Rozemyne. The Othmar Company’s pound cakes have arrived from Ehrenfest, and the kitchen is sending out freshly baked sweets one after another.”

Indeed, the entire dormitory was filled with a deliciously sweet aroma. Charlotte was busy checking over the teacups and directing things being brought in, and it was then that I realized the apprentice knights were nowhere to be seen. I decided to inquire about them, and Cornelius swiftly answered.

“Lord Wilfried is running them through the weaknesses of the feybeasts most likely to appear in the tournament and the best strategies to defeat them. He’s also distributing rejuvenation potions to ensure that everyone is able to recover their mana.”

“Should you not be attending that as well, Cornelius?” I asked.

“I’ll be fine,” he replied with a reassuring grin. “I’ve trained more than enough and have all the information memorized. All I need to do now is attack when instructed.”

“Oh, so this is a romantic brag. You’re saying that you and Leonore are so close now that you can predict her instructions and therefore don’t need to attend the meeting.”

“No! How is that the conclusion you came to?!”

Eeh? But I could totally see the hearts in your eyes.

I went to the venue of the Interduchy Tournament with the scholars, with Cornelius accompanying me as my guard knight and Rihyarda as my attendant. It was held in the largest training arena in the knights’ specialty building—a great structure designed to accommodate flying highbeasts, quite similar in appearance to the arena I had played ditter in last year. Although it was outside and the massive sky above was gray and raining snow, I couldn’t feel the weather at all. It was like the arena was covered with a transparent dome.

Compared to the arena I was familiar with, however, this one was much larger. It was also more elliptical in shape—whereas the other was mostly circular, this one was composed of two circles together. There were audience stands surrounding it, much higher than the floor of the arena and completely flat, much like the ones from when we had played our game of ditter. Back then, I had thought it strange that the stands weren’t positioned on a slant—surely this made it hard for everyone not on the front row to see what was going on—but now I understood that this was actually an area where people would socialize and publish research.

“Lady Rozemyne, Ehrenfest’s space is from here to that line,” Cornelius said, indicating the red lines that ran along the ivory floor as we watched the scholars set things up with experienced movements. The walls of each space were decorated with colored cloth matching the capes of whatever duchy was intended to use it.

“I see the top-ranking duchies have the larger, more central spots that are easier to observe from,” I said.

“Now that Ehrenfest has risen to the tenth rank, our spot is much wider and just generally better than the one we received last year. In fact, back when I was a first-year, we were seated over there,” Cornelius said with a wry smile and pointed to a crowded gathering of those from the lesser duchies. One’s designated space was based on one’s rank, and it seemed that we had received very little room to ourselves when we were a middle duchy ranked among lesser ones. Now, however, we were a far more appropriate rank for our status and had much to be proud of.

Students from other duchies had also started to arrive at the arena, and we could see them setting up too. It truly was a colorful sight, watching the flurry of differently colored capes popping in and out. There were also a ton of ordonnanzes flying about, which was fun. Apparently, people were using them to stay in contact with their dorms.

As I watched the flock of ordonnanzes busily flying about, one burst from the crowd and soared toward me. Cornelius stuck his arm out in front of me, and the bird quickly landed upon it before delivering a message in Lieseleta’s voice.

“Lady Rozemyne, Aub Ehrenfest has arrived. He says that he wishes to meet with you before the tournament. Please return to the dormitory at once,” the bird said three times and then turned back into a feystone. I tapped it with my schtappe and sent back my acknowledgment.

“Hartmut,” I said once the ordonnanz had taken flight again, “the aub has summoned me back to the dormitory. Please help the attendants once you have finished your own preparations.”

“As you wish.”

Returning “at once” was impossible for me by foot, so upon leaving the arena, I got into my highbeast and soared up into the air. The grounds of the Royal Academy were so sprawling that I wasn’t entirely sure where our dormitory was, so I was thankful to have Rihyarda at hand to give me directions.

“Back in my day, it was normal to fly over the grounds thanks to treasure-stealing ditter,” she explained. The dormitory was quite far away from the knight building, so I was glad to have my highbeast. It was much faster than walking to the entrance of the central building, and I didn’t get tired out either.

“Lady Rozemyne, the aub is right this way,” one of Sylvester’s attendants said upon my arrival and guided me to the room he was waiting in. Florencia, Ferdinand, Wilfried, and Charlotte were also in attendance, and my attention was immediately drawn to Ferdinand. Today, he was wearing one of Ehrenfest’s dark-yellow capes over his noble attire.

“This is my first time seeing you wear a cape of our duchy’s color, Ferdinand,” I remarked. “It’s like looking at a new you.”

“That would be because I received this cape only today.”

“Excuse me?”

As it turned out, Ferdinand had tried to attend the tournament wearing his usual blue cape. Sylvester had immediately stopped him upon seeing this and said something to the effect of, “Hold on. Are you really planning to use that cape? People are gonna think you’re from Dunkelfelger. At least wear our duchy’s color, even if only for today.”

“Unfortunately, I do not have an Ehrenfest cape of my own,” Ferdinand had replied. “Your mother snatched away the one Father gave me during my gifting ceremony, saying that a priest has no need for such a garment.”

“You need to tell me these things!”

“Did you not permit me to refrain from speaking of your mother?”

And with that, Ferdinand had acquired a new cape. He was grumbling about how uneasy he felt wearing it, since it lacked all the protective circles he was used to, but he did seem a bit happier than usual to me; he must have been pleased about getting it, despite everything. Besides, it seemed that Justus had still packed the blue cape along with his luggage.

“So, what are we discussing?” I asked.

“I heard from Wilfried that you three divided the courses between yourselves,” Sylvester said, gesturing to my siblings and me.

“That’s right, and it worked. Things progressed very smoothly as a result.”

“That might have worked for the preparation phase, but archduke candidates are supposed to be socializing during the Interduchy Tournament.”

To my surprise, our job was to meet with the archdukes of other duchies, and all candidates were meant to socialize with one another. I contacted Hartmut by ordonnanz to say that Wilfried, Charlotte, and I would need to start socializing at once, and that I was leaving him in charge of the apprentice scholars. That would probably do the trick.

“Now, about the archduke candidate seats...” Sylvester began. Last year, Wilfried and the archducal couple had simply divided them and dealt with visitors based on their status. This year, however, we were expecting to receive a great deal more attention—especially from the top-ranking duchies. We needed to be able to handle male and female socializing at once, and with that in mind, Sylvester said, “I’m thinking Wilfried and Rozemyne can be one team, and Charlotte and Ferdinand can be another. This should maximize how many people we can speak to at once.”

“Rozemyne and me?” Wilfried asked, sounding a bit worried.

Florencia looked contemplative for a moment and said, “You are engaged now, so putting the two of you together during social events holds much importance. That said, Wilfried... are you confident in being able to socialize with Rozemyne?”

“I...” Wilfried gave me another concerned glance and then looked down at the floor, struggling to find an answer.

“Do be honest here, Wilfried,” Florencia said with a gentle smile. “Success and failure alike will have long-reaching implications here at the Interduchy Tournament.” Indeed, this was different from normal socializing in the Royal Academy, which was done entirely by children. Here, aubs from other duchies would be watching as well.

After some thought, Wilfried offered a response—albeit with some hesitation. “I’ll manage... as long as books don’t get involved.”

“Wilfried,” Charlotte said, “with so many visitors from other duchies here, I imagine such a topic is going to be brought up—and quite frequently, at that. Books are discussed almost nonstop at the tea parties I attend.”

Upon hearing this, Wilfried simply frowned at me. Florencia deduced the general circumstances from his expression, smiled, and said, “In that case, perhaps we should pair Wilfried and Charlotte, and Rozemyne with Lord Ferdinand as her guardian. We want to minimize any potential problems at the Interduchy Tournament, and this seems the safest option to me.”

Nobody disagreed, so our groups were settled. Wilfried seemed relieved that Ferdinand was going to be watching over me as usual, and to be honest, I was too. I felt way safer with him.

“Wilfried, Charlotte, keep reading Rozemyne’s reports for as long as you can. They detail everything you’ll need to know,” Sylvester said as he handed them the reports his scholars had apparently transcribed. My siblings skimmed over them, then looked at me in shock.

“You wrote these, Rozemyne...?” Wilfried asked.

“I was asked to send reports that are more professional than sociable, so I formatted them as I would temple paperwork. So, what did you think, Ferdinand? Flawless work, wouldn’t you say?” I said, my chest puffed out with pride.

Ferdinand allowed himself a short laugh and said, “Yes, you did well.” Sylvester and Karstedt, meanwhile, wore wry smiles.

“Yeah, we can’t complain,” Sylvester added. “These reports are so different from your old ones that I didn’t believe it at first. It’s given me some real insight into why Ferdinand treasures your help in the temple so much. How about you come do some work in the castle too?”

“I don’t have time for any more work,” I replied. “In fact, I’d rather you reduce my workload, if anything.”

Our conversation continued until an attendant arrived to fetch the apprentice knights. It was time for them to leave.

“Lady Rozemyne, I ask that you bless the other apprentice knights and me as you did so graciously last year,” Cornelius said. He and the other knights were kneeling before me, with him at the very front. I granted them Angriff’s divine protection and then saw them off.

“Given how far away the knight building is, Rozemyne, I would advise that you leave now,” Ferdinand said. “I shall lead the way.”

“Make sure to look after her for us,” Sylvester added, and with that, we started on our way.

Ditter marked the beginning of the Interduchy Tournament. An archduke candidate from Klassenberg made their proclamation, and the first duchies to play were called forth. It seemed the first half was composed of randomly selected bottom-ranking duchies—and this year, for the first time ever, Ehrenfest was going to play in the second.

“Frenbeltag the Fifteenth!”

The next duchy was called, and its spot in the audience immediately erupted in cheers as apprentice knights wearing light-blue capes started entering the arena on their highbeasts. They rode around the field and got into their positions as a professor descended to the arena floor—also on a highbeast—and poured mana into a magic circle. There was a sudden flash, and a feybeast burst into existence. It was large, catlike... and very familiar.

“Is that a goltze?” I asked, looking up at Ferdinand.

“No, a siltze. One evolution below. But that matters not. Sit, Rozemyne,” he said with a grimace as the match finally started. Apparently, it was fine to stand when your own duchy was playing, but archduke candidates otherwise had to remain seated.

I can’t see the game from where we’re seated, though. This is kinda boring...

I pursed my lips, but I dared not complain. This was the start of ditter and the Interduchy Tournament, and visitors had already started to arrive. The nobles who had failed to get pound cake during last year’s tournament were coming in droves, determined not to miss out again.

“I received some during the Archduke Conference, but I’m especially eager to try the other flavors,” one guest said.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for several days now,” another added.

They’re speaking in such a dignified manner, but they have the same overeager glint in their eyes as old women flocking to a bargain sale!

Those who came for sweets were given some and directed to return to their own duchy’s space, while those who came for business were sent to Wilfried and Charlotte. The only ones permitted to see Sylvester and Florencia were other archducal couples from the top-ranking duchies.

I was directing my attendants when, all of a sudden, the stream of people approaching us stopped, and those who remained started giving something a wide berth. I was confused at first, but not even a moment later, it all made sense—they had formed a path, and walking down it was the Goddess of Light. Her golden hair, which she was wearing in complex braids, took on an elegant sheen as it caught the light and produced a truly stunning contrast with her red koralie hairpin. She approached us with a calm smile, smoothly greeting those she passed along the way. There was no denying that she looked even more beautiful and mature than I remembered.

“Lady Eglantine!” I exclaimed. “Oh, and Prince Anastasius. I am honored to see you have come.”

Ferdinand prodded my thigh, presumably aware that I hadn’t even noticed Anastasius at first. We all exchanged the usual noble greetings, but when we moved to guide them to the archducal couple, Anastasius shook his head and instead sat at our table.

“We have words for you first, Rozemyne,” he said as Eglantine also took a seat.

Our attendants started preparing tea while I poison-tested our pound cake and cookies—the latter of which we were serving here for the first time—and then offered some to our guests. Anastasius was more interested in the new, and so he reached for the cookies, while Eglantine asked for some familiar pound cake. Her attendants prepared a serving with well-practiced movements.

“Rozemyne, what’s this about research into the bible’s prayers?” Anastasius asked. “It’s being published under someone else’s name, but I imagine it’s yours.”

I glanced over at Ferdinand, who had suggested all this in the first place. It was probably more accurate to say it was his research than mine. He gave Anastasius a slight and very noble-esque smile and said, “We had to shut out the professors when investigating the bible, so we hope this fills in the gaps we left them with.”

“So you’re the mastermind, then. The House of the Gods seemed to be warming up to us, but now, the gap between us has widened, and some among them are awaiting the saint’s prayers instead. What are your thoughts on this?”

“We merely obeyed the summons of the king.”

“We’ll see how long that attitude of yours lasts...” Anastasius said with a snort—a regal one, of course. He and Ferdinand seemed to understand each other perfectly, but I had no idea what was happening. I ignored their discussion and smiled at Eglantine.

“I am pleased to see you, Lady Eglantine.”

“I, too, am pleased. I am told you have produced yet another new trend, Lady Rozemyne.”

“Yes, this is a new kind of pound cake, made with rohres I received from Lady Hannelore of Dunkelfelger. Will you have a taste?” I asked. We had soaked the dried rohres in liquor before adding them to the mixture. In my opinion, they had turned out really well.

“It’s quite delicious. I must say, with this level of expertise, I am sure you could make pound cakes for each duchy using their local produce. Never have I regretted graduating more than I do now...” Eglantine said. It seemed that she had felt particularly lonesome since her graduation—a feeling that I understood all too well, since I had graduated back on Earth.

I couldn’t go to my favorite library anymore without permission, and just like that, it was like losing a loved one...

“Incidentally,” Eglantine continued, “I am told that Ehrenfest has released an especially entertaining book this year. Are you making books popular, Lady Rozemyne?”

“Yes, that is my goal. The books are made in Ehrenfest, but people from all duchies are enjoying them. Our love stories are the most popular of all. I would have liked for you to enjoy them as well, Lady Eglantine, but I do not have any to hand...”

“Calm yourself...” Ferdinand muttered to me. His sudden warning caused me to sit bolt upright, and upon seeing this, Eglantine let out a giggle.

“And you are Lord Ferdinand, I assume?” she asked and then quietly added, “The one of so many legends...”

I shot Ferdinand a timid glance. He was giving his standard noble smile, but I could sense the fury in his light-golden eyes.

Ah, crap. I forgot about spreading all the legends surrounding him...

“Rumors are often gross exaggerations of the truth,” Ferdinand said. “I cannot suggest trusting them.”

Eglantine nodded, then suddenly gave me a look of concern. “I am unsure how true the rumors about you are, Lady Rozemyne, but... I fear you are being toyed with by the Goddess of Time.”

“Lady Eglantine?”

“Do be careful. Please.”

Anastasius and Eglantine then said they had to go elsewhere and departed. “What did she mean by that?” I wondered aloud, having not really understood the warning.

“I imagine she was speaking in reference to what Prince Anastasius said,” Ferdinand replied. “Did you not hear him?”

“I didn’t really understand what he was saying, so I started tuning him out.”

Ferdinand sighed and passed me a sound-blocking magic tool. Then, once he had confirmed that I was holding it, he said, “The bible comparison has widened the rift that exists between royalty and the Sovereign Temple, and some members of the cloth have started saying that you, the Saint of Ehrenfest, should be called to perform their Starbinding Ceremony in place of the Sovereign High Bishop. Prince Anastasius was clearly asking us what we intended to do.” The way he was talking made the whole turn of events sound extremely important, but he spoke with such a deadpan expression that I couldn’t know for sure.

“Erm... That’s a big deal, right?” I asked.

“In the eyes of royalty, perhaps, but it was the king who gathered us together and allowed for the bibles to be inspected. No matter the consequences, Ehrenfest is not responsible. I assume you’ll get caught in the middle of it whether you like it or not.”

“Hold on... How come you’re so relaxed about this? As my guardian, you’re as involved in this whole situation as I am.”

“There is little point in panicking now. All depends on the king’s words, so there is nothing we can do,” Ferdinand said, casually hand-waving my protests. His impassive look then turned to a grimace. “Instead, focus on dealing with them. Given the stack of paper they have with them, they must be your visitors.”

His grimace disappeared as quick as it had come, reverting back to a noble smile. I followed his gaze and saw a squadron of more than thirty blue-capes coming our way. Hannelore was the only one I recognized among them, and she was continually glancing at the exceptionally large man holding a stack of papers beside her. I could only assume he was Aub Dunkelfelger, most likely holding my modern translation of their history book.

Still, their entourage seems much too big to be made up entirely of just Hannelore’s and his retainers...

As I watched them quizzically, I realized that the knight-looking individuals among them were clearly looking at Ferdinand rather than me. It was then that I remembered being told about his many experiences smashing Dunkelfelger to bits back in his student days.

Oh no... Could it be? Is this going to be a huge pain in the neck?!

I looked to Sylvester’s table for some assistance, but they were busy talking to a man who I assumed was Aub Drewanchel, based on his cape. I then turned hopefully to Wilfried and Charlotte, but they were surrounded by nobles I didn’t recognize and were just as unavailable to help.

“That man with them is Heisshitze,” Ferdinand muttered. “How bothersome...”

“Who’s that?” I asked, unfamiliar with the name. “A friend of yours?”

“Not a friend; he is the original owner of my blue cape.”

Heisshitze had apparently given up his cape as proof of a defeat and then challenged Ferdinand to countless rematches in an attempt to claim it back, making him much, much more of a pain than Rauffen. In the end, Heisshitze had failed to beat Ferdinand even a single time before their graduation, so he had never managed to win back his cape.

“I certainly hope he does not challenge me to another duel...” Ferdinand said just as the Dunkelfelger squadron lined up in front of our table. The man whom I presumed to be their aub stepped forward. He was tall, muscular, and looked extremely strong—a very fitting leader for Dunkelfelger’s knights, if you asked me.

“Are you Lady Rozemyne, the archduke candidate who asked Hannelore if she could publish a modern translation of our duchy’s history?” he asked.

I nearly jerked and said “Yes, that’s me!” without thinking, but thankfully, Ferdinand flicked me on the thigh again before I could actually respond, bringing me back to my senses. It was a close call, to say the least. We were dealing with the aub of a greater duchy here—I needed to remain dignified and polite.

“Indeed. I am Rozemyne. Will you grant your permission, perhaps?” I asked, trying to sound as graceful as possible.

Aub Dunkelfelger grinned. “Sure. If you win. But if we win, we’ll take this manuscript for ourselves and publish it in Dunkelfelger.”

“Um...?”

“We challenge you to a game of ditter!” he declared, slamming the manuscript down onto our table.

“Father, what are you saying all of a sudden?!” Hannelore cried, but her voice was drowned out by the oohs and aahs of the surrounding knights. Apparently, dignity and grace weren’t important when it came to people from Dunkelfelger—all that mattered was ditter.

I stared up at the aub, my mouth agape. What should I do...? How am I supposed to respond to something like this?!

Of course, I wasn’t the only one taken aback by what was happening. “Father, does Mother know about this challenge? I’m going to contact her at once,” Hannelore said, tears welling in her eyes as she hurriedly took out her ordonnanz. Perhaps this was Aub Dunkelfelger going berserk all on his own.

Ouch. Hannelore sure has it rough... Wait, now’s not the time to be thinking about that.

Interduchy Tournament socializing was like a battlefield for archduke candidates, so I needed to deal with this in a manner befitting my status. That said, my court etiquette class certainly hadn’t covered what to do when the aub of a top-ranking duchy skipped greetings to challenge you to a ditter match. I also had no clue how to go about dealing with Dunkelfelger.

Oh, right—Ferdinand does, though!

He was said to have a long history with Dunkelfelger knights, so he was surely used to this kind of situation. I gazed up at him, hoping he would jump in to save me in my time of need... but instead, he was avoiding eye contact with the knights entirely, making it painfully clear that he intended to sit back and see how I dealt with the situation.

Ferdinand, you massive idiot... This is the part where you’re supposed to help me!

From what I could see, Hannelore was the only one battling Aub Dunkelfelger and showing consideration for my plight. And then it occurred to me—maybe this was a test by our guardians to see how we archduke candidates would react to an unexpected scenario. Even court etiquette class had incorporated plenty of nasty tricks to catch out students. Perhaps the Interduchy Tournament was the same, and visitors deliberately engineered situations like this.

Motivation suddenly welled up within me, and I immediately recalled what Hannelore had said about the translation at the library and during our tea party. Surely there was some solution here that didn’t involve accepting the challenge.

I’ll pass Aub Dunkelfelger’s test and secure the rights to that book!

I straightened my back and smiled at Hannelore. “Was it not said that our aubs need to discuss the history book between themselves? It certainly doesn’t seem like a decision that I can make as a mere archduke candidate.”

Hannelore was quick on the uptake, as one would expect of an archduke candidate from a greater duchy. She realized that I was suggesting we leave the baffling matter to the archdukes, returned my smile, and then said, “Indeed, Father! This was supposed to be a discussion between aubs. How else do you expect Lady Rozemyne to react to you suddenly accosting her like this?”

Aub Dunkelfelger merely raised an eyebrow in response, looking amused. Just as expected, it was completely fine for me to avoid the ditter challenge entirely.

“Now, allow me to summon Aub Ehrenfest,” I said and went to stand up. But as I was basking in this opportunity to dump everything on Sylvester, Ferdinand rose before me, placed a hand on my shoulder to keep me seated, and eyed the Dunkelfelger knights with a smile.

“No, Rozemyne, there is no need for that,” he said. “You wrote the manuscript yourself, did you not? I, on the other hand, have nothing to do with this matter, so I shall summon the aub and ask him to take my place.” He had closed off my escape route in one swift motion, and with that done, he made his way over to Sylvester, his movements as quick and graceful as flowing water.

Nooo! This isn’t fair! Ferdinand just stole my way out!

After a brief groan, I straightened myself out and exchanged greetings with the aub before offering him a seat. At this moment in time, I didn’t need to worry about ditter—we were just going to be socializing. Brunhilde immediately brought over a rohre pound cake, so I took a demonstrative bite and recommended that our guests try some, hoping to buy time until Sylvester got here.

“This is pound cake made with the rohres Lady Hannelore gifted me the other day. Please do tell me what you think.”

“Oh my...” she said. “I thank you ever so much. I shall do just that.”

Hannelore and I sipped tea while talking about specialty dishes; if you asked me, we were model archduke candidates. As it turned out, even Aub Dunkelfelger enjoyed the rohre pound cake—although it seemed that he was more interested in the rumtopf topping than the cake itself.

“This flavor wasn’t at the Archduke Conference,” he said to me.

“We don’t make too much rumtopf, so we had run out by this time last year.”

As we continued our talk, Sylvester finally came over, having been sent by Ferdinand. He greeted his fellow aub, sat down, then gave me a look demanding an explanation as he said, “I’m told that Dunkelfelger wants to discuss a modern translation of their history.”

I told him about the bookworm tea party and the request Aub Dunkelfelger had just made, at which point he crossed his arms with a frown.

“Give up on the manuscript, Rozemyne,” he said. “There’s no way you can beat Aub Dunkelfelger in a ditter match—you have a hard enough time getting through tea parties without collapsing. Not to mention, although you might not understand this due to your inexperience, Dunkelfelger is simply using this challenge as an excuse to get what they want. Even if you had spent an entire year putting that manuscript together with your retainers, defying a greater duchy simply isn’t an option. Dunkelfelger already has its own version, so I presume yours contains extra notes or some such? As we’re only of the Tenth, we have no choice but to sense the will of greater duchies and obey. I hate to say this, but... You need to let them have it.”

As Sylvester was trying to console me with a kind voice, it was our two visitors from Dunkelfelger who seemed the most surprised. “Oh, no, no,” Hannelore said. “That isn’t right at all.”

“Aub Ehrenfest, that isn’t my intention in the slightest,” Aub Dunkelfelger continued. “I’m asking for a game of ditter, not the manuscript. You’re putting the whole situation in a poor light.”

So he said, but anyone who saw a massive, muscular dude like him challenge a tiny girl to a game of ditter would think he was threatening me. His intentions aside, though—as Sylvester had said, we had given him a clean copy, while the original translation remained with us. Dunkelfelger was evidently fine with publishing it within their own duchy, but perhaps it contained information that they didn’t want other duchies to know. I started to wonder whether I should give up on spreading it through printing and just organize the rough notes into a book that I would enjoy on my own.

Because, I mean, a game of ditter still sounds like a huge pain in the neck.

“Understood.” I nodded at Sylvester and then faced Aub Dunkelfelger again. “If you wish to make that a book in your own duchy, Ehrenfest will consent without protest.”

“No, wait,” he replied. “That isn’t what we want. You put such a tremendous amount of money and effort into this manuscript—what better way to assert your ownership than with a game of ditter?”

And then, realization struck me. The manuscript was a passion project of mine, and the actual translation part hadn’t cost me any money, but if Aub Dunkelfelger understood its value, I wanted him to at least reimburse me the money I had spent on the paper and ink. It had all come from my own budget, after all, so the idea of me surrendering my work without getting anything in return seemed wholly unreasonable.

“You certainly are wise, Aub Dunkelfelger,” I remarked. “As you say, this manuscript cost me a considerable sum of money, since I needed to pay my retainers and such. Might I suggest obtaining it not through a show of authority, but by purchasing it instead?”

I gazed up at Aub Dunkelfelger, hoping to recoup at least half of my investment, while Sylvester voiced his support of the idea. “Rozemyne made that translation for fun,” he said, “meaning she paid for it all out of pocket. It may not be much from the perspective of a greater duchy, but for Rozemyne, it was quite expensive. I humbly ask for your consideration in that regard.”

Aub Dunkelfelger looked between Sylvester, the manuscript, and me, frowning so deeply that his eyebrows almost converged over his nose. “She did this for fun...?” he repeated. “Just how much did it cost?”

“Rozemyne. How much?” Sylvester asked.

I took a moment to mentally multiply the cost of a sheet of paper and the number of pages in the manuscript. “I won’t be able to provide an exact figure at such short notice,” I said, “but if one includes the rough copy and research, the paper and ink alone would cost more than fifteen large golds. Add on the fee I paid my retainers, and I imagine it would come to around eighteen in total.”

“E-Eighteen large golds?!” Hannelore exclaimed, blinking rapidly. “Erm, is it normal to spend that much on one’s interests?”

It wasn’t an amount that a normal archduke candidate could spend lightly, but when it came to books, I spared no expense. I could see Sylvester rubbing his forehead out of the corner of my eye, although I pretended not to notice.

“Ehrenfest’s new paper is cheaper than parchment,” I explained, “so in truth, it could have ended up even more expensive. My main concerns are whether there were any mistakes in my translation or any events that I misrepresented. I’m quite worried about those manners of mistake, so if you are to tell me the proper translation or the truth of a particular situation, I will deduct an amount from the fee as an information cost.”

Aub Dunkelfelger hummed and eyed me carefully. “Why would you spend that much money on a book about Dunkelfelger history to be made in Ehrenfest? It doesn’t make sense that you’d put so much time and effort into it.”

“Well, is your book not a thing of wonder? As you may have heard from Lord Lestilaut, I was fascinated with the richness of your duchy’s history and how far back it goes, so much so that I wish to make it easier to consume and spread it far and wide. It really is a shame that I will never be permitted to do this...” I replied and slumped my shoulders.

An amused grin played on Aub Dunkelfelger’s lips. “In that case, let’s settle this with a game of ditter. The winner gets to sell the book. I’ll return the manuscript as soon as you agree.”

My heart stirred. Securing the right to sell this manuscript would give me guidelines for negotiating book rights with other duchies, since I could just say, “These are already the conditions under which we’re doing business with Dunkelfelger.”

“Would these rights extend to any future books we borrow from your duchy and transcribe?” I asked. “If so, we are willing to provide the manuscript, deliver you a copy of each finished title, and pay you a portion of the acquired (royalties).”

Ehrenfest was going to be the one translating and producing the final product, so naturally, we couldn’t pay them all the royalties. By offering them a portion, however, it would probably be easier for us to get books from other duchies.

“So, Ehrenfest really does intend to sell the books?” Aub Dunkelfelger asked. No longer was he wearing the same amused grin as when he had proposed the ditter game. Instead, he was giving me a hard, calculating look—the expression of an archduke who had detected we were at a critical point of our negotiations.

I glanced to my side; now was Sylvester’s chance to step in and suavely resolve the issue. He understood my look, sat up straight, and smiled as he said, “We of Ehrenfest intend to make books our primary export. This time next year, the entire country is going to be surprised with what we’ve accomplished.”

The two stared each other down until, eventually, Aub Dunkelfelger grinned. “Interesting. If you win, I’ll grant Ehrenfest the right to sell transcriptions of any book we lend you.”

“That really is a gracious proposal, but we do not have enough manpower to spare for a game of ditter right now. If you insist on there being no other way to resolve this, however, then I at least ask that you make it a personal match.”

Sylvester didn’t want to agree to some crazy, large-scale battle and risk our knights being drained of mana right before they participated in the tournament. Ehrenfest was also in a far more precarious situation than the more populous Dunkelfelger, since we had only recently defeated the Lord of Winter and were low on things like rejuvenation potions as a result.

“In that case, I select Lord Ferdinand as our opponent.”

“I shall speak to him,” Sylvester replied and stood up, spurring the Dunkelfelger knights to roar and cheer. “However, I cannot guarantee that he will agree; Ferdinand is not one to participate in battles he has nothing to gain from. Should he refuse, I will ask for our knight commander to participate instead.” He then lowered his voice to a whisper that only I could make out and said, “If you want us to actually win this, use your silver tongue and convince Ferdinand to fight. Remember—books are on the line here, Rozemyne.”

And with that, Sylvester patted my head and walked away. Ferdinand responded with an extremely blatant grimace when he learned of our current situation, but he quickly masked his true feelings with a smile and returned to us.

“Ferdinand... Can you agree? Please?” I asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. I could sense that the Dunkelfelger knights were doing more or less the same.

Ferdinand gave a heavy sigh and sat back in his chair. “Dunkelfelger permitting us to sell their books is worthless unless they continue to lend us new ones, and I can already imagine them challenging us to a game of ditter each time we ask to borrow from them. I can think of nothing more bothersome, and so, I refuse to participate. If you insist on encouraging this farce, Rozemyne, then join the battle yourself, accept defeat, and secure the manuscript, if nothing else. That way, nobody but you will suffer from this nonsense.”

“Grr...” I was similarly convinced that Aub Dunkelfelger wanted to take on Ferdinand in particular, so there was no point in me participating and suffering an immediate loss. “Ferdinand, this game is an essential step to kick-starting Ehrenfest’s printing industry. We cannot afford to lose, nor can we avoid the situation entirely.”

“She’s right!” came a shout from among the Dunkelfelger knights, who were looking as hopeful as ever. “Listen to her!”

“Please, Ferdinand. Lend us your strength,” I said. “Not for me, but for Ehrenfest.”

My hope was to convince him that this was more than just a personal matter—that it was for the sake of our duchy—but he simply put on a noble smile and said, “There is nothing for me to gain from this endeavor, so there is no reason for me to participate.” His tone was frigid, and there was such an intense coldness in his stare that I almost gave up on the spot, but whether or not he participated would surely decide the game. He was far more likely to secure a victory than anyone, and for that reason, I grabbed his sleeve and desperately started pleading with him.

“I’ll give you a copy of every single Dunkelfelger book we transcribe.”

“I do not want them.”

“Then I’ll, um... I’ll...”

As my eyes began to well up with tears, one of the Dunkelfelger knights stepped forward and said, “Aub Dunkelfelger, please entrust this battle with Lord Ferdinand to me.” It was the man Ferdinand had pointed out to me—his former classmate, I assumed.

“Heisshitze,” the aub replied, “can you get this man of stone onto the battlefield?”

“Yes, sir!” Heisshitze announced. He then looked Ferdinand dead in the eye and said, “One flammerzung fruit.”

Ferdinand was no longer wearing the self-assured smile of a noble; now, he looked purely contemplative as he glared at his returning adversary. Heisshitze grinned as if assured of victory, while his fellow knights patted him on the back and shouted cheers of encouragement.

So this is Heisshitze, huh? Wow! It feels like he’s really used to baiting Ferdinand into fights!

Heisshitze had tried to reclaim his blue cape time and time again, as Ferdinand very begrudgingly recalled... which meant he had succeeded in baiting Ferdinand into ditter matches on countless occasions.

Come on, Heisshitze—this is all for the sake of my publishing rights!

“One quellweide leaf, one winfalke hide...” Heisshitze continued, still maintaining eye contact with Ferdinand. I didn’t recognize any of the names, but I could guess they were highly valuable brewing ingredients. “If you win, Lord Ferdinand, you may take your pick of any—”

“All of them,” Ferdinand interjected. “And some glanzring powder as well. The cape is worth that much, no?” He raised an eyebrow and shot a taunting smile at Heisshitze, whose victorious grin turned into a pensive frown—the look of a man who was putting his life savings on the line, I gathered.

Ferdinand, don’t torture him! You’re being too cruel...

“Well, Heisshitze?” Ferdinand asked.

Heisshitze had no choice. He shot his head up with a look of resolve and said, “It’s a deal. This time, I will get my cape back!”

“Very well. As for what we should protect... I suppose we have our archduke candidates here, and conveniently enough, they are of the same age. This will even allow Rozemyne to participate, to some degree, which is valuable as she was the one Aub Dunkelfelger challenged.”

Um... What?

“Fear not, Rozemyne—I shall protect you without fail,” Ferdinand said, wearing a smile so bright that it had to be fake. He was clearly, obviously, blatantly scheming... but since there were publishing rights resting on this game, trusting in him was still my best option. No matter what he had planned, I needed to go along with it.

“Ah... U-Um, why does it sound as though I-I’ve been pulled into this too?!” Hannelore stammered.

“You can rest easy, Lady Hannelore. I shall protect you,” Heisshitze said. “Let us defeat Ehrenfest, together. You have already struck down the Saint of Ehrenfest once before, right? Well, I have high hopes for a repeat performance.”

“No. Heisshitze, what are you even saying?!”

Hannelore was getting teary-eyed as everyone started surrounding her, but Dunkelfelger’s knights were too thrilled about the ditter match to show any concern for her panic. On the one hand, I was glad to see Ferdinand so motivated, but on the other... a part of me wanted to cry.

I’m sorry, Hannelore! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to get you wrapped up in one of his nasty schemes!

As I silently pleaded for her forgiveness, Ferdinand and Heisshitze were ironing out the details. They seemed to have this sort of thing down to a science, and they were conveying complex ideas through simple phrases like “As per usual” and “At Dunkelfelger’s training grounds.”

“So, are we going to do this after the graduation ceremony?” I asked.

Ferdinand scoffed. “I want this settled quickly. Dunkelfelger and Ehrenfest are both due to participate in the second half of the Interduchy Tournament, so we shall finish things before then.”

It was then that Justus brought over a wooden box presumably containing the blue cape. “Apologies for the wait, Lord Ferdinand,” he said.

“Now, let us be off.”