Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.10 - Chapter 4

Alstede’s Side

Ferdinand returned to the first room we had entered and waved a hand. Moments later, Alstede was dragged out of the corner by two knights.

“Rozemyne,” he said, “play the role of a scholar and record this interrogation. You have some convenient writing tools at your disposal, do you not?”

Was he urging me to cast stylo and write in my Grutrissheit, all to save some paper? I was starting to get the feeling that Ferdinand was using his Book of Mestionora rather sacrilegiously.

“Now then...” Ferdinand continued, his eyes fixed on Alstede. “It is time for you to speak.”

To begin with, Alstede said only that she was following her mother’s orders, but her attempt to withhold information quickly fell apart as Ferdinand methodically broke her spirit. He revealed Georgine’s death and the many crimes she had committed, went through Alstede’s malefactions one by one, and then said that he would spare her pre-baptized daughter back in Ahrensbach if she cooperated. That did the trick.

“The keys to the villa are with Lord Raublut, the Sovereign knight commander,” she said. “He started commuting between the villa and the Lanzenave Estate last autumn.”

Raublut had revealed the existence of the teleporter during the late Aub Ahrensbach’s funeral. On several occasions since then, Detlinde and Georgine had ordered Alstede to head to the Lanzenave Estate and open the door for him.

“Isn’t it strange that Raublut has the key to the villa?” I said. “I thought it would remain with the royal family.”

“I expect the key to the front gate is still in the royal family’s possession, but the same might not be true for the key to the back door,” Ferdinand explained. “It would normally be given to the villa’s head attendant, like how Lasfam has a key to your library. In an ideal world, the keys would all be stored in the same place, but we do not know whether they were all retrieved during the closing of the villa. The main and side buildings were overseen by separate groups.”

Though we didn’t know how, Raublut had ended up with a key to the Adalgisa villa. Georgine had gone on to execute her plan, tricking Letizia into poisoning Ferdinand, and then let slip the dogs of war once she’d received confirmation that Ferdinand was dead. She had gone to Ehrenfest while Detlinde and the Lanzenavian royals went to the villa to obtain schtappes.

“In advance of their move, I did as Mother instructed and registered the Lanzenavian royals as Ahrensbach nobles so they could obtain their own schtappes.”

Raublut had served as their guide following their move to the Adalgisa villa. He had explained to them all that they would need to stay hidden for several days until Detlinde had obtained the Grutrissheit and the Lanzenavians had finished absorbing their schtappes. Detlinde had then protested that it was scandalous for unwed men and women to live under the same roof, prompting Lanzenave and the people of Ahrensbach to stay in separate buildings so that she could sleep away from Leonzio.

“As if spending her every waking moment with him were not scandalous enough...” Ferdinand griped. I couldn’t help but agree with him.

“I never knew Lady Detlinde cared about appearances...” I said. “I would not have guessed it from how she acts during tea parties, to say nothing of the spectacle she became during her dedication whirl. Perhaps she has her own, bizarre standards that none of us can understand.”

Alstede disregarded my comment with a troubled smile and continued, “Once everyone had their rooms, we went to the Farthest Hall to gather the schtappes. It was my duty as aub to open the door.”

But she hadn’t been able to. Raublut had gone ahead to make sure the coast was clear, only to find Sigiswald walking down the hallway with his retainers.

“Raublut determined that if Prince Sigiswald was circling the shrines, it was highly likely he would find the Lanzenavians,” Alstede said. “And so we stopped for the day.”

Wasn’t that just when Prince Sigiswald went to Ehrenfest’s tea party room to speak with Sylvester? I don’t think he was circling the shrines.

I balked at Sylvester’s godly luck; he had foiled Raublut’s plans purely by accident.

“That night, Lord Raublut received an emergency summons from the royal family. He told us the following day that Lord Ferdinand’s retainers had traveled to the Royal Academy to inform Aub Ehrenfest of their charge’s predicament. Our movements had thus been exposed.”

The royal palace had been locked down in anticipation of an attack by Ahrensbach, and Sovereign knights had been stationed around the Ahrensbach Dormitory and the doors to the central building. However, because Raublut had been informed of these precautions, Alstede’s group had simply waited inside the villa. Days had passed, and the Sovereignty had seen neither hide nor hair of an invasion.

“I spent my time brewing rejuvenation potions, waiting for the Order to lower their guard,” Alstede said. “No matter what happened next, the potions were going to be useful. The Lanzenavians took that time to practice forming their armor.”

As it turned out, forming armor had been a simple matter for the Lanzenavians, since they had plenty of experience with using feystones. They had also practiced making highbeasts and confirmed ways they could use feystones alongside the tools they already had at their disposal.

And then we launched a surprise attack in the dead of night, rendering their preparations useless.

“We knew the royals could not stay in their evacuation room forever,” Alstede continued. “And as they lowered their guard, they withdrew their knights. It was not long before the only ones still stationed at the Royal Academy were Lord Raublut’s collaborators, which allowed us to finally resume our work.”

The royals hadn’t been the only anxious ones; Detlinde had apparently hated spending so much time holed up in the villa.

“I attempted to open the door to the Farthest Hall so the Lanzenavians could obtain their schtappes, but it remained firmly shut. Presumably because I did not have the Zent’s acknowledgment.”

Hmm... I wonder... I’d already dyed Ahrensbach’s foundation by then, so I assume she just wasn’t the aub anymore.

Ferdinand scoffed. He must have been thinking the same thing.

“However, that did not pose an issue for us; Lord Raublut had already devised a backup plan. The Sovereign High Bishop and several blue priests were there to help us.”

Each year, when Spring Prayer drew near, the Sovereign temple submitted a request for the Farthest Hall to be opened. On this occasion, they had planned ahead so that it would align with the Lanzenavians’ trip to the Royal Academy. Anastasius, Hildebrand, and Immanuel had all been in attendance.

“Wait, did you say ‘Immanuel’...?” I asked. “I thought he was the High Priest, not the High Bishop.”

“Was he not appointed to the role just recently?” Alstede stared at me quizzically. “My husband, Blasius, attended the ceremony. I was in the villa at the time, so I do not know the details.”

Alstede had wanted to go home the moment she’d realized that she couldn’t open the Farthest Hall; she felt useless in the villa, and she was worried about her daughter. Nonetheless, she had pushed down those emotions and stayed put, for she had been told that the aub would need to grant the Lanzenavians their schtappes and ensure good relations moving forward.

“On the day the Sovereign temple arrived, the Lanzenavians made feystone armor as instructed, wore black capes brought to them by Lord Raublut, and posed as members of the Sovereign Knight’s Order. Prince Anastasius watched the priests line up the chalices and divine instruments for a bit, then took a portion of the Order’s knights to check other parts of the Royal Academy.”

As well as overseeing the Sovereign temple, Anastasius had apparently been tasked with checking that the Royal Academy was safe enough for the Zent to return to his normal activities.

“Once the second prince was gone, I was told, Prince Hildebrand opened the door so that the Lanzenavians could obtain their schtappes.”

If someone with every element performed the ritual to obtain divine protections, there was a chance they would go straight from the altar to the Garden of Beginnings. That must not have been what happened with Hildebrand, though; someone would surely have said something by now. I suspected that the third prince had opened the door beside the altar and taken the route students used during class.

“The Zent must have given Prince Hildebrand permission to obtain his schtappe,” Alstede concluded.

“That can’t be true,” I replied, shaking my head. “I told the royal family that obtaining a schtappe at a young age leads to severe complications later down the line. The Zent would never have permitted such a thing.”

Anyone who obtained their schtappe early and then gained a bunch of divine protections and increased their mana capacity through compression would soon find themselves unable to control their mana. Considering that Hildebrand was working hard to compress his mana and studying ancient language so that he could enter the underground archive and do work befitting a royal, I sincerely doubted that his father, the Zent, would set him up for such hardships.

“Say no more, Rozemyne,” Ferdinand interjected. “Alstede cannot provide the confirmation we seek; she was not there to witness the event. In all likelihood, Raublut falsely claimed that the Zent gave his permission as a way of manipulating Prince Hildebrand into opening the door.”

Anger surged through my chest. Raublut was the Sovereign knight commander. To use Ehrenfest as an example, this was like Melchior making a request, Sylvester refusing it, and then Karstedt wrongly declaring that the aub had given his permission.

“This betrayal is far too cruel...” I muttered.

Were Karstedt to approach my knights and tell them he had convinced Sylvester to allow something that was previously refused, not a single person would doubt him. Nobody would even think to check with the aub—that was how much trust Karstedt had cultivated as the knight commander. The same must have been true for Raublut, the Zent’s head guard knight and commander of the Sovereign Knight’s Order.

“Indeed,” Ferdinand replied, his voice dry and completely devoid of sympathy. “But for the prince to have fallen for it, he must have wanted to obtain his schtappe early. The lure would not have worked otherwise. I do not know why Prince Hildebrand clung to that desire, but it created a weakness for Raublut to exploit. Only a fool would choose to obtain his schtappe at such a young age—and to make matters worse, he gave the Lanzenavians schtappes in the process. He will soon face the consequences, and we cannot pity him when he does.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Because he had put his trust in the wrong man, Hildebrand would forever be cursed with a weak schtappe tied to his pre-Academy mana capacity and elemental affinities. He would even be held responsible for giving the Lanzenavians their schtappes.

“Do not let this torment you,” Ferdinand chided me. “Only a fool would try to bear the consequences of somebody else’s actions.” He then rounded on Alstede. “Your claim that you have the royal family’s support is laughable. Anyone can see that Raublut deceived the young prince. I would advise you not to lie to me again.”

Alstede’s blue hair swayed as she shook her head; then she bit her lip and cast her eyes down. “I was not referring to Prince Hildebrand when I said we were cooperating with the royal family. I meant Lord Gervasio.”

“I see. So you meant you were working with Lanzenave’s royals.”

Alstede shook her head again, then dropped the most stunning bombshell yet: “Lord Gervasio has rejoined the Yurgenschmidt royal family.”

The atmosphere in the room changed immediately. Some of the knights demanded that she elaborate, but not Ferdinand; his expression darkened, and a deep furrow creased his brow. He began tapping his temple.

“Already? Those who go to Lanzenave have their medals moved elsewhere. Were they returned...? They should be in the possession of... Ah, I see. That was his true goal.”

For a moment, Ferdinand seemed relieved, like he’d just pieced together an especially tough puzzle. Then he let out a low, frustrated sigh.

“Come on, Ferdinand.” I gave him a light smack on the arm. “Don’t leave us all in the dark. Tell us what you’ve figured out.” My Book of Mestionora contained almost no information about the whole Adalgisa matter, so an explanation was very much in order.

“Raublut’s primary aim was not to secure the Lanzenavians their schtappes but to remove Prince Hildebrand and his retainers from the room.” He turned to Alstede. “I assume the Sovereign priests began checking and moving medals while the prince was getting his schtappe.”

Her entire body went rigid. “How did you know that?”

“It was fairly obvious.”

“I disagree! Please explain!”

“Think of what happens when a person’s medal is destroyed. You should understand that much.”

The consequences of a destroyed medal weren’t taught until the last year of the archduke candidate course. I already knew them, however, for I’d already memorized the coursework for the entire six years.

“If they are in the duchy where they were registered, they will die,” I said. “Otherwise, they will simply lose the ability to form their schtappe.”

I thought back to the situation with Grausam. Sylvester had intended to execute him by breaking his medal, but the man had already escaped to Ahrensbach. He had survived at the cost of losing his schtappe.

Ferdinand gave a satisfied nod, then continued. “Since destroying a medal takes the owner’s schtappe with it, those who return to Lanzenave have their medals preserved. Upon their departure, the medals are moved from a storeroom for branch families to one for foreigners.” He was speaking so much like a professor that I subconsciously straightened my back and gripped my pen like an eager student.

Alstede trembled as she looked up at Ferdinand. By all accounts, he shouldn’t have been there; Georgine had arranged for him to die in Ahrensbach’s Mana Replenishment hall. Yet he had somehow survived and was now drawing out all the information she had tried to keep hidden. He must have seemed terrifying to her.

“How do you know so much about Lanzenave medals?” Alstede asked. “Such things aren’t covered at the Royal Academy.”

“I read various old documents about them. You cannot blame me if your education is lacking.”

Oh, right. By “old documents,” he must mean his Book of Mestionora. It doesn’t seem right to accuse someone who doesn’t have one of not being educated enough, but Alstede isn’t going to argue with a man who came first-in-class six times in a row. I can’t even search my own Book for that information, since those sections are all missing for me.

“We are getting sidetracked,” Ferdinand said. “Given that Gervasio left the branch family and went to Lanzenave, his medal would also be in the Sovereign temple’s possession.”

“Is it not strange that the Sovereign temple has the medals?” I asked. “I would have guessed they were being kept in the royal palace. In Ehrenfest, we store nobles’ medals in the castle.”

“They are born in this villa, which is on the Royal Academy’s grounds. That is not the same as being born in the royal palace.”

Ferdinand chose not to elaborate, but I could sense that those born in the Adalgisa villa weren’t considered part of a normal royal branch family.

“In any case,” he continued, “the crux of the matter is that Raublut worked with Immanuel of the Sovereign temple to return Gervasio to Yurgenschmidt royalty. Gervasio might only have reentered a branch family, but still—their objective is likely the Grutrissheit.”

I didn’t know how thoroughly the royal family cleared the room when sharing intelligence, but if Raublut knew about the underground archive, the requirement of circling the Royal Academy’s shrines, and the reason for my upcoming adoption, then he might have thought his plan would allow Gervasio to obtain the Grutrissheit.

“The mana in the medal would confirm Gervasio’s identity and make it clear to Immanuel that he’s omni-elemental, right?” I asked.

“Yes. And if the knight commander identified the royal family as the source of his knowledge, a religious fundamentalist like Immanuel would throw up his hands and welcome Gervasio with open arms. It must be known that the Sovereign temple is made up of morons who would declare Detlinde the next Zent simply because she caused the selection circle to flash for the briefest of moments.”

By moving his medal, the Sovereign temple had turned Gervasio from a foreign Lanzenavian to the Yurgenschmidt royal closest to obtaining the Grutrissheit.

“Thus concludes my conjecture,” Ferdinand said. “Though I suspect it was not far from the truth. Is that correct, Alstede?”

She nodded, still trembling. Could anyone be surprised that he was right on the money?

“Immanuel promised that he would move the medal, but only after using it to confirm that Lord Gervasio really was who he claimed to be,” Alstede explained. “In return, Raublut promised to reward the Sovereign temple when Lord Gervasio obtained the Grutrissheit and formally became the Zent. We were not made privy to the details, though.”

“I am impressed you would admit your plan for Gervasio to obtain the Grutrissheit. Detlinde would never accept that. You have been working against your own younger sister, then.”

For a moment, I felt sorry for Detlinde. It seemed like everyone in her family saw her as no more than a convenient tool to be used. But then I remembered what she had done to Ferdinand, and my anger came back stronger than ever. The only way I could avoid getting emotional was by focusing my thoughts on Raublut’s plotting. His obtaining the key to the Adalgisa villa, contacting Ahrensbach, and preparing countermeasures for anything that might go wrong all reminded me of Georgine’s modus operandi.

“To think the Sovereign temple was also under Raublut’s control...” I mused. “This plan must have been set in motion long ago for its roots to run this deep. I never thought Immanuel and Raublut would work together. They seemed so at odds with each other when my bible was being searched.”

“Something must have occurred since then that caused their goals to align,” Ferdinand replied. He saw Immanuel as the fool who had improperly identified a Zent candidate, but I would never forget the disturbing look that man had given me upon seeing my schtappe transform into a divine instrument. The thought that he was working with Raublut shook me to my core.

“Rozemyne,” Ferdinand said, “do you have any strong feelings about Immanuel...?” He must have noticed the concern on my face.

“I met with him on several occasions while performing ceremonies at the Royal Academy. In that time, I came to discover his intense fixation with making divine instruments and reviving old rituals. The look in his eyes was so gross and scary that it disturbed me.”

I was used to fanaticism from my dealings with Hartmut, but that was nothing compared to what I’d seen from Immanuel; there had been a particularly nasty light behind those gray orbs. The ceremonies had taken place after Ferdinand moved to Ahrensbach, so he didn’t think all that much about Immanuel, but the man’s disturbing behavior would forever be burned into my memory.

“I see...” Ferdinand said. “To summarize, then, a troublesome and thoughtless fundamentalist with an obsession for the power of eld cares only about returning the Grutrissheit to Yurgenschmidt. For that sake, he would even help a Lanzenavian to become the Zent.” He cast his eyes down in thought, then sighed. “So, what happened after the medals were tampered with?”

Anastasius hadn’t come back from his inspection of the Royal Academy—not even by the time Hildebrand returned from the Farthest Hall with his Divine Will. Raublut had advised the third prince to return to his villa posthaste so that he would not accidentally touch anyone.

From there, Hildebrand’s retainers had sent an ordonnanz to Anastasius informing him of their intention to leave. Those of the Sovereign temple had departed soon after. Only once they were alone had the Lanzenavians beaten a hasty retreat back to the Adalgisa villa and started absorbing their schtappes.

“Prince Anastasius circled the shrines, and the Royal Academy returned to its usual state,” Alstede said. “I wished to be granted a prompt return to Ahrensbach. The Lanzenavians had obtained their schtappes, which marked the end of my duties.”

However, when she had made to leave, the door within the Lanzenave Estate had refused to open for her. She had then tried to return home via the Ahrensbach Dormitory, but its door had also remained shut. She had reported these strange occurrences to Raublut, who had returned the news that their duchy’s foundation had been stolen. He had not known who was responsible or how Ahrensbach was faring.

“In her anger, Detlinde sent a letter to Ahrensbach. We became even more devoted to obtaining the Grutrissheit so that we could regain our foundation...”

“In other words,” I said, “you casually circled the shrines.”

Each time someone said “Detlinde,” I remembered seeing Ferdinand paralyzed and on the brink of death in Ahrensbach’s Mana Replenishment hall. My anger was getting harder to control, but I forced a smile and tried not to think about it. Sure, I might have sounded a little caustic, but I deserved to be praised for not taking things any further than that.

Alstede looked troubled as she said, “I-Indeed. Lord Gervasio and Detlinde circled the shrines with the help of the rejuvenation potions we made. That is the thing about my sister—though she may be a bit thoughtless at times and tends to think she is the center of the world, she is not a bad person at heart. She worked so very hard for our sakes.”

My blood started to boil. Alstede had given a pretty standard response for someone trying to defend her little sister, and it was true that I didn’t know much about their relationship behind the scenes, but still. My head started to cool while the rest of me felt practically aflame. I couldn’t remember the last time this sensation had overtaken me. I exuded mana through a smile and looked Alstede dead in the eye.

“Goodness, Lady Alstede. What a funny thing to say. To carry out her nefarious scheme, Lady Detlinde kidnapped and murdered the head attendant of a mere child. She used a paralyzing drug on Ferdinand when instant-death poison failed to dispatch him, then put schtappe-sealing bracelets on him and set him atop a magic circle so that he would die a slow death as his mana drained. Oh, but she is good at heart, is she? What a unique appraisal. The two of you certainly are Lady Georgine’s daughters.”

“I... Ngh!”

Alstede’s eyes widened, and she clutched at her chest. Her mouth opened and closed in a failed attempt to speak. I increased the force of my Crushing while watching her writhe in agony.

“Rozemyne!” Ferdinand shouted. “Control your emotions! You are leaking mana!” He grabbed my wrist before any of my knights could react.

“Fear not...” I replied, though my eyes did not move from Alstede. “I, too, am growing. I can now focus my Crushing on a single person.”

“I understand your anger, but we need her alive. She will play a crucial role in our future plans.”

Ferdinand used his free hand to block my vision and interrupt the Crushing. Alstede coughed and spluttered, while my retainers shouted my name.

“I will contain Rozemyne’s mana,” Ferdinand said. “The rest of you, take Alstede to the front garden. Do not let Rozemyne see her again!”

“Understood!” Laurenz and Matthias replied in unison.

Alstede was whisked out of the room, leaving me with nowhere to direct my overflowing mana and anger. “I’m frustrated, Ferdinand. I’m mad,” I said. “If you think I’m going to forgive anyone, then think again.”

“I understand that, but contain your mana; otherwise, I will need to press a feystone against your skin.” There wasn’t a trace of empathy in his voice, but even now, he was being considerate of my feystone phobia. That eased my anger in no time at all; there was nothing to gain from taking my frustrations out on him.

Ferdinand relaxed his grip on my arm; he must have felt that my mana was receding. “In terms of your emotions, I see you have not grown at all since we first met.”

“The gods blessed me with rapid physical growth. Maybe, through continued prayer, I can convince them to grow my mind as well.”

“You have prayed more than anyone else in Yurgenschmidt. If not even that has been enough, then I would not hold my breath.” His hand was still covering my eyes, but the fact we were even having this discussion told me I was calming down.

At last, Ferdinand took his hand away from my face. Then he started checking my mana to make sure it was safe to release my arm. My knights appeared to want to say something—they kept raising their hands as though to interject—but with Alstede gone, my mana was unlikely to rampage again.

“Detlinde’s moral character is no longer relevant or important,” Ferdinand stressed. “What matters now is the revelation that Gervasio was circling the shrines. Did you process any of the information we just received...? Good grief.”

As he returned to inspecting me, I noticed the urgency in his eyes. And then it hit me:

It doesn’t take long to circle the shrines, does it?

Sure, the process required a lot of mana, but that could easily be remedied with a bunch of rejuvenation potions. In my case, I’d already dedicated so much mana through ceremonies that the tablets hadn’t needed much more from me—but did that even matter? Time would remain frozen while he was inside the shrines. It had taken me less than a day to obtain all the tablets.

Could it be...? Has Gervasio finished circling the shrines?

I thought back to Hirschur’s report; she had said the outsiders were seen by the scholar building. There was a shrine near there. Assuming that Gervasio had already been circling them when he was spotted, it was likely he now had every single one of the tablets. Any anger still coursing through me dissipated in an instant.

“In an ideal world,” Ferdinand said, “Gervasio would be circling the shrines as we speak. Perhaps he thought it best to act under cover of darkness. But why would the Sovereign Knight’s Order have revealed its treachery if not because he had already finished and was on the cusp of obtaining the Grutrissheit? Raublut and the others hail Gervasio as the next Zent; where do you think he is now?”

The blood drained from my face. There was only one place someone in Gervasio’s shoes would go. “Professor Solange stopped responding to ordonnanzes—was that not what Hirschur told us?”

Ferdinand’s cold, calm voice echoed in my mind over and over again.