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

The Battle for the Sovereignty

Immanuel — The Returned Branch Royal

In the Sovereign temple, a small white bird sailed into my office. It wheeled above the desk, then turned into a magic letter that fell right in front of me. It must have been from Lord Raublut; I could see his signature green ink on the page. He probably wanted us to tell the royal palace it was time to get ready for Spring Prayer.

Before I could inspect the letter further, Curtiss picked it up and started to read. He was my attendant now that I’d taken over as the High Bishop. As a blue priest, he only aided me with work-related duties—unlike the grays who oversaw my daily life—but he was my attendant all the same.

“Brother Immanuel, there is no name attached to this letter, so I cannot tell who sent it. Its contents are also a mystery to me...”

I took the letter from Curtiss. He had only been doing his job—attendants were obliged to read any correspondence first before passing it along to the High Bishop—but I was displeased with him nonetheless. This letter had come from Lord Raublut, of all people. Though the sender’s name was omitted and the contents were coded, I did not want anyone to see it. Especially not Curtiss, who had served Relichion, the former High Bishop, before serving me.

The risk is too great. It was Lord Raublut who dispatched the previous High Bishop.

Relichion had always been a fool. Back when I’d stated my desire for Lady Rozemyne to become the Sovereign High Bishop, he had told me I was speaking nonsense—that he was the High Bishop. He was so arrogant and self-centered, and it amazed me even now that he had thought he would stay in his position when Lady Rozemyne entered the temple. As a wielder of the true divine instruments, she was better suited to the role than anyone. Under her guidance, we would be able to perform true, divine rituals once again.

But alas, Relichion had opposed our savior. It made no sense. He lacked dedication to the gods despite his standing.

Lord Raublut had ultimately deemed the former High Bishop an obstacle to be eliminated; Relichion’s general disinterest in reviving the ancient rituals had made him uncooperative when it came to enabling the return of a Zent candidate. In his desperation to remain the High Bishop, he had denied anyone capable of obtaining the Grutrissheit, so Lord Raublut had used poison to silence him for good.

“Brother Immanuel, who sent you that letter?” Curtiss asked, bringing me back to reality. “Do you know?”

“No, I do not recognize this hand,” I replied.

Curtiss took the letter back from me, aware that I was asking him to destroy it. But rather than getting straight to work, he stood in place and continued to look at me.

Hmph. How troublesome...

Relichion’s death had made Curtiss suspicious—he had taken to reading every message I received—and this confusing anonymous letter had only made that worse. I wanted nothing more than to relieve him of duty and do away with him, but I’d only recently taken over as the High Bishop and wouldn’t be able to perform my duties without him. I would need to wait at least a year, much to my distaste.

“Curtiss, send a letter to the royal palace: I wish to visit the Royal Academy to start preparing for Spring Prayer. Extol the importance of the ritual and stress that we must go there without delay.”

He stared at the letter, then at me, then cautiously stood down. I gave further instructions to the other attendants, slowly clearing the room.

Once everyone was gone, I stood up and quickly approached a nearby door, which I opened with the key I wore around my neck. Beyond it was a storage room meant for objects that only the High Bishop could use, so I was the only one able to enter it. This room was why Lord Raublut had sought the aid of the Sovereign High Bishop. Relichion had refused and died, so I had taken the role in his place.

I looked around, then headed to where the medals of those who had gone to Lanzenave were kept. Two white medals sat inside flat boxes.

“The newest of these two would be... this one.”

I picked up one of the medals, stuck it inside a storage box, and then returned to the office. I would now be able to retrieve it right away when the royal palace permitted our entry to the Royal Academy. Curtiss would not find the mere existence of a box suspicious; I stashed it inside my desk and pondered the person registered to the medal within.

I suppose the new Zent candidate has returned, as per Lord Raublut’s plan.

Indeed, the medal apparently belonged to a new Zent candidate—a member of a royal branch family who left Yurgenschmidt upon coming of age to become the king of Lanzenave but would return to obtain the Grutrissheit and rule as a true Zent. This meant there were now three candidates, the other two being Lady Detlinde of Ahrensbach, who had caused the Zent-selecting circle to flash, and Lady Rozemyne of Ehrenfest, who performed rituals with the true divine instruments.

Lord Raublut normally attended when King Trauerqual was given reports or participating in discussions, so he knew how to obtain the Grutrissheit and the requirements one had to meet. The information he had given me reached so far beyond what I could research on my own that I could not verify it, but it was said that only a royal born with all elements could receive the Grutrissheit. Lady Rozemyne had come exceptionally close only to be denied at the last moment for not being a royal. King Trauerqual planned to remedy that by adopting her during the next Archduke Conference.

How ridiculous.

Lady Rozemyne was the perfect candidate to become the Sovereign High Bishop and revive the old rituals. I could not bear the thought of the royal family stealing her away from me, which was why I’d agreed to cooperate with Lord Raublut.

If this branch royal obtains the Grutrissheit, nothing will stand in the way of Lady Rozemyne entering the Sovereign temple.

I recalled the gleam of the true divine instruments she had wielded and sighed, overcome with bliss. In her hands, Flutrane’s staff sparkled with green light—something I’d never seen from our temple’s replica. And then there was her spectacle with the cape of Darkness and the crown of Light. My chest grew hot, and my body trembled with excitement.

I wanted Lady Rozemyne. The temple deserved her. There was no one better suited to serving the gods as the Sovereign High Bishop.

My deal with Lord Raublut was simple: I would help his branch royal obtain the Grutrissheit in return for Lady Rozemyne. A saint able to perform true rituals would become the Sovereign High Bishop, I would assist her as the High Priest, and together we would revive what the rest of the country had forgotten.

I was dying for that day to come.

We received permission to enter the Royal Academy three days after Lord Raublut sent his letter. Under normal circumstances, a scholar would arrange our visit immediately, but an unusual matter had delayed us. The royal family seemed to be in some kind of danger, and we had needed to wait until everything was deemed safe.

To reach the altar at the back of the auditorium, we of the Sovereign temple had to pass through the royal palace. We were following behind a scholar with a feystone that would open the doors in our path. It was our duty to perform divine rituals, but at times like this, we could not help feeling disrespected.

“Oh?”

We arrived at the usual meeting room in the palace to find two princes, each with his guard knights, and quite a substantial crowd of Sovereign knights. I was unsure why they had all gathered, but seeing Lord Raublut with them told me it must have been part of his plan.

“Let us depart,” Prince Anastasius said.

We went with him to the auditorium, Sovereign knights all around us. There were more knights stationed outside the teleportation doors that connected to the dormitories.

“Tensions seem fairly high today. Did something happen?” I asked.

“That is not for you to know,” Lord Raublut shot back, his curt response likely meant to hide our cooperation from the others. Despite his tone, he seemed to be in fairly high spirits; his plan must have been going well.

“I will open the door,” Prince Hildebrand announced once we were inside the auditorium, then took out a feystone and opened the door leading to the Farthest Hall. We passed through the iridescent barrier, and the statues of the gods came into view. “Here we are. Begin.”

From here, we were normally left to our own devices, but there were Sovereign knights standing by the walls and watching our every move. Even Prince Anastasius kept his narrowed gray eyes on us. The blue priests were uncomfortable with being the center of attention and worked slowly as a result.

“Curtiss—pay no mind to the Sovereign knights,” I said. “We might not know why they are here, but they are merely doing their job. We need only do ours as well.”

“That is true, but—”

“Spring Prayer cannot be performed without our preparations. We must start by cleansing the altar.”

I gave everyone clear instructions, and the blue priests began their work in silence. They cleansed the altar, laid out offerings, and checked the mana gathered in the statues’ divine instruments. They forgot about the Sovereign knights watching them and worked in perfect harmony.

Prince Anastasius surveyed us for some time, then nodded and said, “Right. Raublut, I shall do as Father instructed and inspect the rest of the Royal Academy. Look after Hildebrand in my absence.”

“As you will, Your Highness. I must ask that you bring these knights with you and your guards; the search should go quicker if you divide it between yourselves. The first and second squads will stick with you while the third and fourth protect Prince Hildebrand. The fifth and sixth squads will guard the hallway.”

The knights moved as Lord Raublut instructed. Prince Hildebrand watched as more than half of them departed with Prince Anastasius, then turned to the Sovereign knight commander.

“Raublut, where is Anastasius going?”

“To patrol the Royal Academy’s grounds. He was tasked not only with keeping an eye on the Sovereign temple but also with checking the Academy to see whether the Zent can safely return to his usual schedule. King Trauerqual is prepared to lower the royal palace’s guard if a prince confirms nothing is out of the ordinary.”

“We would welcome an end to the lockdown,” said one of Prince Hildebrand’s attendants. “Our lines of communication have been limited since the palace was completely sealed.”

The prince seemed too distracted to respond; he nodded and said, “I see” while staring enviously at the door.

“Prince Hildebrand, you have your own duties to perform in the meantime,” Lord Raublut said.

“I do?” he asked, his eyes full of hope. Though he was a prince, he was also still a child; he must have been bored standing around.

“The Zent has at last given you his permission. You may use this time to obtain your schtappe.”

“Truly?!”

“Lord Raublut, is that true...?”

Prince Hildebrand celebrated, but his attendants had their guard up. Their skepticism was short-lived, however, as Lord Raublut had prepared an excuse.

“We do not know when Prince Hildebrand might be put in danger. A schtappe will allow him to call for aid or protect himself. At the very least, it will make it easier for him to reach a teleportation door. Arthur—you know what Lady Eglantine went through, I expect.”

“I don’t, Raublut,” the prince interjected. “What happened with Eglantine?”

A solemn look clouded the knight commander’s face as he shared the story—an account of the civil war, when an invasion had shaken the villa of the third prince at the time. The prince in question had succumbed to poison while eating dinner, as had those in his family who had dined with him. Their retainers had devoted themselves to nursing their dying charges and searching for the culprit.

As an unbaptized child, Lady Eglantine had instead taken her meal in the playroom. For that reason, she and she alone had survived. The first prince’s forces had then attacked, despite the fact he had already been defeated, so Lady Eglantine had raced through the villa, eventually opening the teleportation door to the Royal Academy to allow Klassenberg’s knights through.

“I never knew she had to go through something so awful...” Prince Hildebrand said.

“If she had obtained her schtappe sooner, she would have been in a better position to defend herself. She might even have reached the teleportation door without losing her nurse. The Zent is treating this state of emergency with the utmost seriousness and wants nothing more than for Prince Hildebrand to be prepared. My subordinates were there when he gave the order.”

Lord Raublut then turned to his knights. “He states the truth,” one said, while the others nodded in agreement.

“We were told to stay with you and ensure that no harm befalls you,” another added.

“I never thought Father would allow this...” Prince Hildebrand said, a smile forming on his face. “He always told me no.”

I could tell from the look on Lord Raublut’s face that this was another part of his scheme, but the others were none the wiser. Everyone trusted the Sovereign knight commander and saw no reason to question him further.

“The Zent has his own ideas,” Lord Raublut said. “I told you this day would come—when the time was right, of course.”

“Yeah! Let’s go, Arthur!”

The Sovereign knights still in the auditorium split into two groups: those who would go with Prince Hildebrand and those who would continue to watch over us. The prince eagerly absorbed a quick tutorial on how to obtain his schtappe, then practically skipped to the side of the altar with his retainers and the Sovereign knights. I could not see how from where I was standing, but they opened a hole in the wall and then proceeded inside.

Is... that it...?

My breath caught in my throat. The Sovereign temple had authority over the Royal Academy’s altar, but we had never been told about its proximity to the place where schtappes were obtained.

Is that really where they come from?

Schtappes served as proof that one was a noble. They were necessary to wield true divine instruments and existed as the means by which one’s prayers could reach the gods. Would obtaining one allow me to create divine instruments? Would my words reach the gods more easily? My eyes were locked on the entrance ahead of me, and my legs started carrying me toward it.

“That place is for nobles, not you,” Lord Raublut said. Hearing his voice was like being doused in ice water. The flames of my enthusiasm faded as I thought about everything that would always be out of my reach no matter how much I prayed to the gods.

Resentment and envy toward nobles swelled in my heart, but I couldn’t let my anger show; even the slightest outburst would spoil everything. I refrained from looking Lord Raublut in the eye and simply flashed the small box I was keeping hidden.

“Could you keep the other blue priests at a distance?” I asked. “They suspect my involvement in Relichion’s death.”

Lord Raublut chopped the air, and the knights moved into a formation that would stop the Sovereign priests from approaching us. Anyone on the outside would probably assume the Sovereign Order was interrogating me.

I opened the box and produced a medal, holding it so that the Sovereign priests wouldn’t be able to see it. “So, who does this belong to?”

“Him,” Lord Raublut said, indicating the Sovereign knight who had just stepped toward us.

Aaah. So this man disguised as a knight is the new Zent candidate.

Though a helmet covered most of his face, the features I could see spoke to royalty. Still, I could not act on trust alone; I needed confirmation that this man was a branch royal. Lord Raublut had said that giving this future Zent his medal was necessary for him to obtain the Grutrissheit.

Does he or does he not have the capacity to become a true Zent?

That was what mattered to me. If this man really was an omni-elemental branch royal, he would become a true Zent, dispel the false King Trauerqual, and reward me by sending Lady Rozemyne to the Sovereign temple.

“If you would channel your mana into this...” I said.

The man formed his schtappe and tapped the medal, making it glow with the light of all elements. A moment later, a knight watching us from a distance came forward, his arms crossed and a most dubious look on his face.

“Is this medal alone truly enough to confirm he is a branch royal?”

“Lord Blasius,” the knight commander said. He sounded critical, but his use of a title confirmed this man was no member of the Sovereign Order. I did not recognize him—my knowledge of nobles was spotty at the best of times—but I could answer his question.

“This man is the branch royal who went to Lanzenave, and the mana within him is omni-elemental. There can be no mistaking it.”

“Then the plan is still on?” Lord Blasius asked, speaking not to me but to Lord Raublut.

“Yes. He will need to circle the Royal Academy’s shrines and go to the archive under the library. Only omni-elemental royals can enter the room with the Grutrissheit, so there is no chance of anyone beating us to it. The archduke candidate from Ehrenfest still needs King Trauerqual to adopt her.”

“Good.”

Lord Blasius took a step back. He, too, needed the branch royal to obtain the Grutrissheit. Lord Raublut saw that as his end goal, but this faux Sovereign knight seemed to have something else in mind.

“In any case,” I said, “this man is who he claims to be. Upon my return to the temple, I will move his medal from the box for Lanzenavians to the box for members of the royal branch families. That should grant him the same level of access as any other branch royal.”

“Do it fast.”

“As you wish.”

I stashed the medal in its box, which I then put away. I would need to reregister the medal—a simple enough process most commonly done for weddings or when a noble rose in status. I could do it here and now, but it seemed more sensible to return to the temple first. I wanted to keep the medal in the Sovereign temple’s custody in case circumstances required me to hand it over to King Trauerqual.

The knights surrounding me broke formation, allowing my return to the altar where the blue priests were working.

“Did something happen?” Curtiss asked.

“I was questioned about Lord Relichion’s death. The Sovereign Order thought it might be relevant to their current plight.”

“I see...” he replied at length.

“Brother Immanuel, we have finished our work,” one of the blue priests announced.

Curtiss joined me as I started inspecting the altar. He did not probe any further.

A short while after we of the Sovereign temple completed our business, I heard the quiet footsteps of a child. Prince Hildebrand had returned.

“Raublut, look. I got mine,” the third prince said, a broad smile on his face as he held some manner of tube close to his chest. His retainers stood around him in a circle, though they appeared to be keeping their distance.

“Any incidents?” Lord Raublut asked.

“One group went to check the farther reaches of the tunnel, and we have yet to hear back from them,” a knight replied. “Those of us who stuck with the prince have nothing to report.”

The knight was standing unusually far away from Lord Raublut and appeared to be holding the same tubular object as Prince Hildebrand. It was obvious to me, but the prince’s retainers seemed entirely focused on their lord, taking care not to get too close to him.

“Prince Anastasius has not yet returned,” Lord Raublut informed the third prince. “Nonetheless, I would advise you to return to your villa to avoid any unnecessary contact.”

“Arthur, what do you think? I was told to lock the auditorium, but should we do as Raublut says?”

“Indeed. We cannot touch you until you have absorbed your schtappe, so you might not be able to touch the feystone to the door.”

The prince let out a small cry of realization; because he was so short, his retainers had needed to pick him up before he could unlock the door. “In that case, I agree—we should take our leave early.”

Lord Raublut nodded. “As some of my subordinates have yet to return from the tunnel, I shall look after the feystone and give it to Prince Anastasius when he returns.”

“Thank you,” Prince Hildebrand replied. He took the feystone from a pouch on his hip and then approached Lord Raublut, prompting his retainers to cry out and the knight commander to lurch back.

“No! You must not touch anyone!”

“The floor! Please put it on the floor.”

“Goodness. My heart... Let us hurry back to the villa.”

In contrast to those around him, the prince remained perfectly calm. “I almost messed up...” He set the feystone on the floor, then gazed upon it with regret. “Opening and closing the door was one of the few important jobs I could actually do...”

“Perhaps you could send the Sovereign priests back to the temple. You will get the satisfaction of having done something important, and Prince Anastasius will understand your need to leave early.”

“Right!”

Prince Hildebrand gave a firm nod, prompting his attendant to send an ordonnanz to the second prince stating their intention to depart with the Sovereign priests. A reply of acknowledgment came moments later.

“We must be off, then. If you will excuse us.” I gave customary farewells to Lord Raublut and those with him, then left the auditorium with the third prince.

Immediately upon returning to the temple, I reregistered our future Zent’s medal and moved it to the storage area for branch royals. Lord Raublut sent me a magic letter the next evening.

“My lord received the Goddess of Wisdom’s invitation. Prepare for his coronation.”

“Brother Immanuel, what do you believe this means?” Curtiss asked, his brow furrowed.

I could no longer hide my exasperation. Lord Raublut sounded so giddy that I wanted to ask where his extreme caution had vanished to. “Tell me what you think it means, Curtiss.”

“Taken at face value, Mestionora has invited a Zent candidate somewhere. We have waited an entire decade, but... has the Grutrissheit been found at last?”

“I do not know, nor do I expect the Sovereign temple to ever receive the details. They treat us as tools to perform religious ceremonies. That said, if a Zent with the Grutrissheit truly has been born... we should rejoice, should we not?”

Curtiss sighed. We both knew how much the nobles exploited us. Lord Raublut had only told me so much, meaning not even I understood what the invitation would entail. If nothing else, it seemed safe to assume the branch royal had obtained the Grutrissheit.

A thrill ran down my spine. I was forbidden from becoming a noble, but it was by my hand that a new Zent would take the throne. How could anyone protest the revival of ancient rituals now? Lady Rozemyne would soon be the Sovereign High Bishop, and under her leadership, the Sovereign temple would rise above the nobility.

Trembling with excitement at the thought of coming even closer to the gods, I returned the letter to Curtiss and instructed him to destroy it.