Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.1 - Chapter 11

Researching Rituals and an Update on the Purge

After Hirschur left, Sylvester slowly looked around, then sighed. “Well, considering that we’ve received advice from a royal, I think we should take the joint research approach. Of course, you students are going to be the ones doing the actual research, and I imagine that Rozemyne is going to be spearheading it, since she’s a scholar, an archduke candidate, and our High Bishop. Rozemyne, what do you think about all this?”

“Well... if we need to pair up with another duchy to improve Ehrenfest’s reputation and make ourselves more trustworthy, then I would certainly like to work with Dunkelfelger.”

Sylvester eyed me carefully. “But why Dunkelfelger? If we want others to believe our research, would Drewanchel not be a better choice?”

“If we work with Dunkelfelger, then I can rely on Lady Hannelore. I have no such friends in Drewanchel. Though my main reason for wanting to work with Dunkelfelger is that its archduke candidates and apprentice knights have the divine protections of multiple gods, making them ideal test subjects.”

Drewanchel might have been a better choice for research about magic tools and circles, but this was about divine protections from the gods. In other words, they wouldn’t provide good samples.

“Not to mention,” I continued, “Dunkelfelger has Clarissa, Hartmut’s fiancée, who wishes to become my retainer. As an apprentice scholar, she should make things progress a lot more smoothly—and if our research produces good results, we will have an easier time summoning her to Ehrenfest.”

Clarissa’s parents would surely want to cancel her engagement now that Hartmut had joined Ehrenfest’s temple as the High Priest. However, if our joint research improved the public’s perception of the temple—or at least conveyed that our temple differed from those of other duchies—then perhaps that problem would resolve itself.

“Not to mention, Clarissa is an archnoble. If she marries Hartmut and comes to Ehrenfest, then we will be able to learn more about how top-ranking duchies socialize. She is going to be a crucial asset for Ehrenfest now that we are expected to behave as a top-ranking duchy.”

“Yeah. We’ll need someone like her, and soon. Let’s try to avoid the engagement getting canceled,” Sylvester agreed. Our problem was severe enough that the royal family had taken it upon themselves to interject. Ehrenfest needed to learn to act like a top-ranking duchy, and the only ones who could teach us were those already from top-ranking duchies.

Soon after Sylvester agreed that we should pair up with Dunkelfelger, Florencia instructed her scholar to prepare some ink and paper, then looked at me. “You said that you wish to reveal only the harmless aspects of this research. Please tell me which parts you think match that definition.”

“Certainly. First of all, one can raise one’s chances of receiving divine protections through prayer—though this will not work unless those prayers are sincere. One also needs to offer mana to the gods. These are all the ‘harmless’ theories that I think we should research with Dunkelfelger.”

As an additional advantage, we should be able to prove our theories by comparing the apprentice knights in Dunkelfelger who did receive divine protections with those who didn’t.

“However,” I continued, “as Professor Hirschur said, we will also need some information specific to Ehrenfest so that Dunkelfelger does not claim all of our research for themselves. To that end, we will add that, during the ritual, the magic circle must be filled entirely with mana, even if mednobles and laynobles must use rejuvenation potions to do so.”

“Rejuvenation potions?” Florencia repeated, blinking in surprise. As a member of the archducal family, she had probably never lacked the mana necessary to fill a magic circle.

“The magic circle for obtaining divine protections is large and complex, no? According to Professor Gundolf, laynobles and mednobles struggle to fill the entire thing with their mana, so they prioritize filling the parts with their elements instead. This way, they can secure the protection of the primary gods as long as they state the prayer correctly. Unless these students use rejuvenation potions, they will not be able to fill the circle completely and acquire protections outside of their elements.”

“This is my first time hearing this,” Florencia said, her eyes widening.

Incidentally, one’s curricula at the Royal Academy were dependent on one’s mana capacity. A lot of content was omitted from the laynobles’ lessons about rituals and such to accommodate their lack of mana.

“Furthermore, in Ehrenfest, we speak a prayer when replenishing the foundational magic, do we not?” I asked. “As it turns out, this is not the case in other duchies. I expect that this is why Wilfried received so many divine protections. How were things done in Frenbeltag?”

“We did not pray either. I was surprised to see others doing it when I performed my first Mana Replenishment in Ehrenfest,” Florencia replied. She had simply gone with the flow and stated the prayer while channeling her mana.

“It seems that Ehrenfest very well might be the only duchy that still prays during Mana Replenishment.”

“You know, we haven’t always done it,” Sylvester interjected, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed.

“Wait, what?! It’s not an age-old tradition?!” I exclaimed. “How far back does it go, then?”

“Father started it around the time Constanze was married into another duchy. I was a second- or third-year, as I recall.”

“Does that mean you earned divine protections from gods other than the primary ones?” I asked, still surprised that the tradition was so new.

“I’m not sure if our praying was the reason but... yeah.”

“Which ones did you get, Father?” Wilfried asked.

Sylvester merely sputtered in response, then his eyes wandered evasively around the room.

“Oh, Sylvester...” Florencia said with a teasing smile. “Your own son is asking; why not give him an answer?”

There was a pause before Sylvester finally conceded. “Liebeskhilfe and Glucklitat.” The former was the mischievous, prank-loving Goddess of Binding, who stole threads from Dregarnuhr to bind men and women together, while the latter was the God of Trials, who granted good luck to those who overcame ordeals.

Hearing that Sylvester earned those protections in the Royal Academy, it becomes kind of obvious that he was all about romance. I’m sure he prayed just as sincerely as Philine does to Mestionora.

“In any case, Rozemyne,” Florencia said, “can you tell me what you consider to be the more harmful areas of your research?”

“I am hoping to investigate whether students can use prayer and dedicate their mana to get more divine protections after coming of age. My retainers are now frequently visiting the temple, so I will test my theory on them.”

Perhaps we could rescue Angelica, who had failed to obtain even the most basic divine protections in her student days. I was also curious to see if we could secure a few more for Damuel. Considering that Philine had received more protections, it was fully possible that those going to the temple would get more as well.

“Furthermore, I wish to test whether the ritual can successfully be performed in duchy temples, rather than just at the Royal Academy. If all goes well, then we can secure more divine protections than any other duchy.” It would be a significant boon for us mana-wise if adults could obtain divine protections within Ehrenfest.

Sylvester stroked his chin, looking unconvinced. “So you say, but Ehrenfest doesn’t even know the magic circle necessary for the ritual. Unless... You haven’t made one, have you?”

“Not yet, but I drew the circle on my diptych during the ritual, so I will soon.”

I already had a drawing of the magic circle on hand; as long as I was careful, I was sure that I could recreate it. The process wouldn’t even take that long because, if we made it stealthily at home, we wouldn’t need to include all the fake lines to disguise it.

“But, wait... You have to stand at the center of the circle, and the fake lines and patterns would have made copying it down impossible. Especially for someone your height. How did you record it?”

The answer was simple: I had seen it from the top of the shrine, and the real parts of the circle had been shining with my mana. That didn’t make what I had done any more normal, though. Based on what Hirschur had told me, the statues moving aside and opening a path during the ritual was strange enough already. It was something that I absolutely needed to discuss with Ferdinand before telling anyone else.

“Rozemyne, how did you record it?” Sylvester asked again, leaning forward.

I worked my brain at full capacity in search of a way out of my current predicament. I needed to come up with a half-truth that wouldn’t land me in hot water if Ferdinand gave me permission to share what had actually happened.

“Th-The gods told me to!”

“What? The gods?”

“Yes. I heard them whisper to me,” I replied with a smile. “‘Write that circle down,’ they said.”

It wasn’t a complete lie; after all, they had made way for me to ascend the shrine. But since Sylvester—and every other person in the room, for that matter—was giving me a highly suspicious look, I moved to expertly change the subject.

“By the way, how did the purge go?”

In an instant, everyone widened their eyes and turned to the archducal couple. This news was of the utmost importance for those of us in the Royal Academy. We all wanted an explanation.

Sylvester’s expression hardened. “We sent word before, but the purge has finished, for now. We’ve eliminated those who had given their names and sworn loyalty to the first wife of another duchy, as well as those who worked to bring misfortune to Ehrenfest. Those who have not given their names to anyone have been imprisoned and are currently under investigation.”

We all swallowed. According to Sylvester, they were busy with the cleanup—that being the investigations and carrying out the punishments. That was why Karstedt, as the knight commander, hadn’t been able to leave Ehrenfest to come here with Sylvester.

“As for those who gave their name and were executed, first were Giebe Gerlach and his family. Then there was...”

Sylvester went on to list those who had been executed for giving their name to Georgine. I recognized most of them as the people whom Matthias and Laurenz had warned us about. To my surprise, the head count was fewer than ten, even considering spouses and immediate family who were guilty by association. This news came as a great relief; at this rate, not many of the former Veronica faction children would need to give their names to survive.

“Thus, the only students who must give their names to save themselves are Matthias, Laurenz, Muriella, Barthold, and Cassandra,” Sylvester said. “I can’t yet make any guarantees for the others, but they should be able to return to their families.”

Barthold was planning to give his name to Wilfried, while Cassandra would give hers to Charlotte. The remaining three were giving theirs to me—which came as quite a surprise, considering what had been discussed.

“Unfortunately, Giebe Gerlach blew himself up,” Sylvester continued. “Bonifatius charged forward from the vanguard and attempted to restrain him with his schtappe, but the explosion came too quickly. I’m told that a single hand was the most that could be salvaged for evidence. The crest on its ring and the mana within confirmed it as belonging to the giebe, at least.”

I understood that Giebe Gerlach was Matthias’s father, but still—he had been loyal to Georgine and had continuously targeted me, so I was glad to hear that he was gone. It was safe to say that I, and all those close to me, were going to be much safer from now on.

“We will finish investigating our prisoners and settle their punishments while you are all at the Royal Academy,” Sylvester explained. “I expect that any students whose families are only receiving fines and such will be able to return home by the end of winter. The children of those who are receiving harsher punishments, such as long-term menial labor, will spend that time in the castle dormitory. This is also true for the children being housed in the orphanage.”

Matthias’s warning had resulted in the purge happening much earlier than was initially scheduled, but things had gone more or less as planned. Most of the children who had been worried about never seeing their parents again would be reunited with them before long.

“How many children ended up in the orphanage?” I asked. “Have food and mattresses been delivered for them?”

“Yeah. Seems like Hartmut knew you would be worried about them; he’s been giving me regular reports on how they’re doing.”

Sylvester then turned to one of the scholars, who came forward and gave me a stack of documents. There were seventeen children who had ended up being sent to the orphanage, and a table had been drawn up detailing their names, ages, parents’ names, and what Wilma thought about them. As expected, many were emotionally unstable. Meanwhile, those who were five and six years old were gritting their teeth and refusing to show emotion, or otherwise fighting back the urge to cry—perhaps due to having been raised as nobles.

My heart ached at the thought of all those poor children, crying for their families. I understood that pain and sadness all too well, and memories of my separation from my own family flashed through my mind.

“And what of the playroom, Mother?” Charlotte asked.

“The children there were all gathered in one place, and, once the purge was complete, their families were allowed to come fetch them one by one,” Florencia replied. “The purge was carried out on such a large scale and involved many scholars and attendants, so having the children all in one place was convenient for protecting them.”

Subsequently, the children whose families had ended up being imprisoned and therefore hadn’t come for them were left in the playroom, where they discussed the purge and their futures. Only a small number would need to give their name to survive, and many conversations were had over what they should do next.

“And what happened to Nikolaus?” I asked.

Nikolaus was the son of Karstedt’s second wife, Trudeliede, and while we had barely spoken, he was still my half-brother. I had always been curious about the glances he gave me; it was like he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

“He is in the playroom,” Florencia informed me. “Karstedt said they will discuss his future once Trudeliede’s punishment has been decided. That said, Karstedt has much to do as a result of the purge, and he is going to hunt the Lord of Winter soon, so I expect that their conversation will not be for quite some time.”

He must be really scared...

As I thought about Nikolaus being all alone and afraid, Wilfried spoke up. “So, we know the purge is going as planned. Father... did you get to look into the memories of any of those name-sworn to Lady Georgine?”

“Yeah. Several. Though there was nothing of any use.”

Several of the name-sworn had apparently blown themselves up the moment they saw the Knight’s Order approaching them. It would have been simple enough to kill them outright, but capturing them alive had been crucial to secure evidence and confirm their connection to Georgine. Of course, this was much easier said than done.

“Those who had given their name to my mother or just committed petty crimes put up some resistance, but, overall, they were captured without issue. As for those who gave their names to my sister... we weren’t able to capture any of them properly, be it because they blew themselves up as soon as they saw the Knight’s Order or because Bonifatius went a little too far when fighting them. We didn’t get many heads we could search through.”

Apparently, there were restrictions involved when it came to peering into the memories of the deceased. Back when Ferdinand had looked through mine during my days as a blue shrine maiden, he had given instructions so that I would show him what he wanted to see. You couldn’t give instructions to the dead, though, and the memories of the deceased quickly degraded over time.

“On top of that, the memories that remained offered very little evidence,” Sylvester continued. “We learned that Georgine visited Gerlach and that the two engaged in a crazed celebration over something she said, but I’m told that we still don’t know what that ‘something’ was. The problem is that the vision and hearing of every person we’ve examined has been distorted, as if someone grabbed their memories and twisted them up.”

“What in the world...?” I said. “Can you do that? Like, intentionally? Is there some restriction about peering into the memories of those who have given their name?” I needed to know, since I had already accepted some names myself.

Sylvester frowned. “Do you remember Matthias’s report mentioning that the fireplace was lit despite it being summer, and the air was filled with a sweet scent?”

“I do. What about it?”

“A scholar who’s an expert on drugs suspects that something called trug is to blame. It’s a strong hallucinogenic plant that messes up one’s memories. None grows in Ehrenfest, but students here at the Royal Academy are taught that it’s very dangerous.” Sylvester then let out a tired sigh. “My sister always comes thoroughly prepared; she obviously took several precautions to make sure that nothing can be traced back to her. I’m terrified by how obsessed she must be and how much she must have learned to accomplish her objective.”

To think she had devised and enacted a plan to warp her name-sworn vassals’ memories, knowing full well what we would do to them when they were caught... I was much too careless to be able to manage such an intricate scheme—that is, assuming I could even come up with one in the first place. I couldn’t help but wish that she would use her evident intellect for something more constructive than trying to steal someone else’s duchy. The world was surely filled with so many more wonderful things.

Right. Like, she could try to construct a library, or gather all the stories in the world, or make new books.

I let out a weary sigh that was just like Sylvester’s, finding Georgine’s choice of obsession unfortunate. Meanwhile, Charlotte offered a gentle smile and words of consolation to her father, who was fighting for our duchy back at home.

“You may not have found concrete evidence within their memories, Father, but you still succeeded in eliminating those who had given their name to another duchy. That is more than enough, no? If not for that warning from Matthias, the purge might not have succeeded at all.”

“Charlotte...” Sylvester said, staring at his daughter with an expression of surprise. She looked so much like her mother as she smiled softly back at him.

“Lady Georgine is no longer able to act freely in Ehrenfest. Giebe Gerlach has been executed, so even if she wishes to obtain the foundational magic, there is no longer anyone who can make the necessary arrangements for her. Thus, do not feel so down. We should now focus on unifying Ehrenfest. Is that not right?”

“Yeah. It is, Charlotte. We eliminated the vassals who were letting my sister act as she pleased. Moving forward, Ehrenfest is going to be safe for Rozemyne.”

“Indeed. We’ve eliminated those who harmed my sister time and time again. That alone is enough,” Charlotte said, her words softening the expression of not just Sylvester, but the knights who had accompanied the archducal couple as guards as well.

“Ehrenfest will probably experience a mana shortage for a while, since we’ve executed three giebes, but we’re lucky enough to have a certain someone who’s overflowing with mana. I might need to give my thanks and prayers to Glucklitat the God of Trials,” Sylvester said, looking at me with a grin. He then beckoned over a knight, who stepped forward with a bag filled with feystones. “These should cover you for a while. Channel out all the mana that’s built up inside of you and ease up on the compression. That should reduce your overall quantity down to a point where you can control it again.”

I certainly hadn’t expected to hear that kind of advice from Sylvester—and as I stared at him in surprise, his expression turned wistful.

“This reminds me of when Ferdinand learned mana compression in his first year of school and completely overdid it. He was as puzzled as you are now when it became too much for him to control. In the end, he managed to resolve the issue by expending a ton of mana and compressing it less. From what I remember, anyway.”

His uncertainty left me feeling exceedingly concerned, but even so, his advice was highly valuable. I accepted the feystones with a smile.

“I thank you ever so much for the advice, Sylvester. I will give it a try.”