Chatper 20: Visit in the archive and the graduation ceremony
After the discussion with Sylvester, I joined the small party in the common room. Most of the students had already left for their rooms, but the first-years and second-years were still raving about their success, accompanied by those few honor students among the older ones. Naturally, I wanted to participate in the fun as well.
“I can’t wait to see Theodore’s face when he finds out that his big sister became an honor student,” Judithe remarked with a big smile.
“Our parents will definitely be surprised.” Cassandra glanced at her brother.
“It will be harder for us to keep up with you next year.” Brunhilde sighed. “Many practical classes in the individual courses are too reliant on mana. I can’t see the laynobles reaching the honor status.”
I guess it’s true. I sympathized with her struggle.
The first two years were pretty much teaching the basics that everyone needed to know; it was possible for laynobles to keep up. However, there was probably no feasible way for a layknight to contribute enough to be in contention for the status of an honor student.
Similarly, brewing was draining. Personally, I could experiment, fail a lot, and improve with repetition because my vessel was large enough, but if someone needed a week to recuperate after making a single set of potions or a tool, they couldn’t hope to follow. Mistakes were costly.
And running the magic tools for attendants was also quite demanding. Not to mention, serving in public was graded based on the difficulty of one’s interaction. Unless Brunhilde wanted to push laynobles from her year into serving archduke candidates during a tea party, she was out of luck.
Which meant that even with more preparation and support, the laynobles among the current second-years wouldn’t be able to reach those grades next year either. It made me a bit sad, but at least the students in question didn’t seem to be too down about it. Well, they had still received quite good grades for their status, even better than most mednobles.
When I turned to the laynobles from my year, they were just sitting there silently with plastered smiles. It seemed they were still in disbelief about the whole thing—standing on the stage with the best students in the country.
I know the feeling. Enjoy. I smiled at them as Leonore was retelling some kind of romance story she had heard during her socializing. It really felt like a casual party.
“First in class!” I declared, as Gretia and I entered our room.
“Congratulations.” Caroline smiled.
It was clear that she had already been informed. There was not a smidgen of surprise on her face.
“Even the Zent praised me. That should definitely put to rest all those rumors,” I continued, still drunk on my victory.
Though, this time my attendant replied with a vague remark. It was clear she just didn’t want to outright lie.
Sigh, I know. In this society, every possible weakness wasn’t to be forgotten, but exploited. But I still thought it would have some kind of an effect.
“Do you think your family will be surprised?” I turned to Gretia.
In the story, Roderick had been abused by his father after he had lost his connection to Wilfried. But in this timeline, Roderick seemed fine. Could the same happen to Gretia? As an honor student, she should be way more valuable.
“I’m not sure.” Gretia smiled weakly, though there was this very tiny hope in her eyes.
We had a second, smaller, celebratory party, with forbidden-to-spread sweets and tea. Though, we couldn’t stay up for too long. I had to wake up very early in the morning, as there was little time before my return to Ehrenfest.
In the morning, Estelle, Marianne, Ignaz and I headed for the underground archive. Sure, today was the day of graduation, coming of age and all the other ceremonies, but none of us was graduating or escorting anyone. As mere audience members, we didn’t have to stress around with preparations, meetings with parents, or spend like half a bell on adorning hair.
Quite the contrary—with everyone else distracted, this was a perfect opportunity to have some last-minute work done and clean up before the departure.
The library was empty, as expected. Solange was the only one present, greeting us with a friendly smile.
“I see you work even on days like this.”
“Only for a little while.” I smiled as well.
We couldn’t exactly postpone this for later. I was a first-year; our group would go home first. And good luck with retrieving the tablets without my highbeast.
Once downstairs, Estelle and I produced our highbeasts and began retrieving the first set of tablets.
“Isn’t that long pole a bit bent?” Estelle squinted her eyes as the second tablet was brought over.
“Yeah, the material deteriorates.” I pressed my lips. “But I think we will be able to use it for one more winter before I will be forced to brew the replacements.”
It was one disadvantage of relying on mechanical design instead of making it a magic tool. It wore down, eventually needing repairs or replacement.
I mean, the material is still pretty good for what it does. With my shoddy design, I was pleasantly surprised that this thing functioned at all. After all, it was a long pole reaching the other side of a room without any structural support.
“Couldn’t you make it weightless, like schtappe tools?” Estelle wondered.
“When someone strikes your sword with their sword, what does it do?” I asked knowingly.
“Right, it takes mana to keep it functioning.” She tapped on her forehead.
Surprisingly, the stuff with magical properties required magic, something we couldn’t do across the barrier. Any strain on the material would have required supplying mana for structural integrity, and the barrier would have rejected it just like my highbeast.
For now, it wasn’t too much of a problem, so we began our transcription work.
“Anything interesting?” I glanced at Ignaz when Estelle and I were taking a pause.
“I don’t know.” Ignaz grimaced.
It seemed he didn’t have a clue about the content of the transcribed page. Marianne wasn’t translating either, but she seemed able to pick up on some of the phrasing. Her progress was quite fast despite the circumstances. Unlike me in the temple, she had no easily available translations to look up the meaning of the words whenever she needed. Every new page was an incomplete puzzle.
As I watched her work, a man showed up at the staircase.
We all froze for a second from the unusual occurrence. Well, his face seemed confused too, so in that regard we were even.
He had a black cape, which clearly identified him as a Sovereign noble, and I noticed green color underneath. So, a professor from Drewanchel. I sighed.
This was bound to happen sooner or later. A newly opened archive? Of course, all kinds of researchers would rush in to take a look themselves. As Solange would socialize with her colleagues, more would probably come.
He got through the barrier, so he is not only a professor but also an archnoble. I guess greetings are up to you. I smiled towards our two “higher status nobles.”
Both Ignaz and Marianne looked a bit hesitant, but they had passed the etiquette, so obviously, they greeted the visitor without any flaw and introduced the rest of us as well.
“I am Tenzeln,” the man replied curtly.
“We are honored by your presence, Professor Tenzeln,” Marianne added politely.
He blinked at her for a second, but then he nodded with a smile. Though, his expression still looked baffled. “Professor Solange informed me that you dyed the keys. Is that right?”
“That is correct.” Marianne nodded.
Tenzeln shook his head slightly. It was clear he didn’t expect students to get here.
Had he planned to monopolize the research for himself? Though, he didn’t seem angry, nor did he try to expel us from the archive, which was relieving. While unusual, it was clear we weren’t breaking any rule just by being here.
Unfortunately, Cornelius wasn’t around. I wanted to be so much “See? We aren’t doing anything forbidden” in his face.
Tenzeln glanced at our retrieval tool, consisting of two parked highbeasts. Though, unlike Kieland and Ignaz, he didn’t seem to make a big deal out of it. It probably helped that Estelle’s highbeast didn’t have wings, so it didn’t stand out, and mine outright looked like a machine. Now that I was looking that way, that thing did kind of look as if it had been a part of the room’s interior.
“What brought you to this archive?” Tenzeln wondered.
Possible revolutionary magic for Ehrenfest? We didn’t exactly want to share our trump card.
Neither Ignaz nor Marianne looked like they had a good answer. The latter glanced my way.
“We are researching old documents and temple ceremonies,” I injected myself into the conversation. “Our archducal family wishes to improve the reputation of our temple, so we are hoping to find some positive historic examples that we can replicate back home.”
“I see.” Tenzeln nodded and set off towards the archive.
“Pardon me, be aware of the barrier,” I uttered.
“Barrier?” He turned his head, which probably saved his nose when his shoulder hit the invisible wall.
Didn’t Solange mention the second barrier to you?
The surprised professor rested his hand on the invisible wall. I know the feeling. I smiled wryly.
“Do you know the conditions for the access?” he looked our way.
“Since the first barrier lets through only higher-status nobles, we assume this one is merely more selective. Requiring even higher status,” Marianne replied.
“That seems most likely.” Tenzeln nodded with a slight grimace, his eyes wandering around the room. “Would you allow me to see your text? I merely wish to assess the nature of the archive.”
“Certainly.” Marianne smiled.
Wait, do we have something problematic? I tensed as Tenzeln glanced at the first tablet.
“This vernacular is quite hard to read,” he remarked to himself with a light chuckle.
“I am merely transcribing it.” Marianne kept her noble smile.
“Me too,” Ignaz added innocuously.
Oh no, my page is mostly translated. I panicked. What was I translating? At that moment, I couldn’t remember at all. My mind was completely blank. What if there was something that would make me look suspicious among the professors?
“I see. Old administrative documents, indeed.” Tenzeln uttered while reading through my translation.
I was inspecting the same text from behind his back, even though I was the one who had translated it. Thankfully, we were lucky; it sounded quite boring. Maybe that’s why I forgot it so easily.
“Well, there isn’t much for me to study here without access,” Tenzeln eventually declared with a light sigh. “Keep up with good work. I see why Ehrenfest’s grades have been rising recently.”
“We are honored.” We all smiled.
And just like that, he was gone.
I hadn’t actually thought about it, but how many professors could access this archive if the requirement really was being an archduke candidate? Maybe Gundolf? He had mentioned in the story that he was an archduke candidate.
Wait, no. He was demoted. Drewanchel demoted their archduke candidates. Oh, I’m dumb. Sovereignty couldn’t take archduke candidates.
In that case, only the students could get here. And since even archnobles seldom came to the library, it meant that we had this archive all to ourselves. Ehrenfest is keeping its trump card. I smirked.
We worked on the tablets for another half a bell, and then we dismantled the retrieving tool into the individual tubes that we stored in a corner, behind a pillar. We also returned our working tables to their original places so no one could complain about us making a mess. With the room cleaned up, we went upstairs to return the keys to Solange.
“I must admit, after so much time on our own, I was rather startled by a visitor,” I remarked casually.
“Yes…Professor Tenzeln seemed to have the same idea as you to do some work before the ceremonies would start.”
Well, he didn’t seem too bad. Unlike me with my outburst, when he couldn’t access the archive, he merely shrugged and left like a normal adult.
As we would soon focus on packing and leaving, I used this opportunity to thank Solange for her support during the whole winter. Without her, we couldn’t have achieved even half of our current success, whether in public or otherwise.
I glanced around one last time. It was fun. I could see why Rozemyne was so fond of libraries.
After we returned to the dormitory, I was rushed by Caroline upstairs so she could get me into a proper state. While I didn’t have to look picture-perfect like the graduating girls, I still had to be presentable.
I mean, as a first-in-class, I have certain obligations. Heh.
The ceremonies themselves were rather unremarkable. By now, my standard was at least a big light show with various blessings, not just a bunch of speeches in the auditorium. This was just like every normal school graduation in my world. Make it more magical!
I watched Ernesta being escorted for her coming-of-age ceremony, but otherwise, I didn’t pay much attention. I guess the sixth-years are adults now. Hey, I won’t have to deal with Ferjargert next year. That was definitely a plus.
The following sword dance was pretty well choreographed. By now, I had trained enough to appreciate the dancers’ skill. Though, Henrietta had kind of taught us that routine through her much more sophisticated version, usable in an actual fight. And well, her version had cool explosions. Seriously, this is a magical academy, make it more magical!
By the time of the Dedication Whirl, I was mostly just staring aimlessly. Then, someone grabbed my sleeve. When I turned, Estelle was giving me a tense look.
What? I had no idea what the problem was.
Everyone else was watching the stage, just like me, so there didn’t seem…
Ooohhh, right. “Sorry, I forgot. Just ignore it. Nobody can see it.” I shrugged.
My response morphed Estelle’s tense look into a “I hate you” look, and she turned back.
“Does Lady Estelle need any help with her facade?” Gretia whispered.
She seemed concerned, but the way she understood that exchange almost made me laugh.
Before lunch, Estelle and I managed a small talk with a sound-blocking tool, away from prying eyes.
“Sorry, again. Since I dropped the whole Grutrissheit acquisition thing, I stopped thinking about that topic. And well, the magic circle is invisible to me, so I remembered only after you looked my way,” I admitted with an awkward smile.
Estelle placed her hand on her forehead and sighed. “So only I can see it, right?”
“Yes.”
“And do you know what it does?” she wondered.
“No idea. I can only extrapolate from what happened to you during the divine protections ritual that the archduke candidates, who usually have more colors, are called to perform the whirling, and that only Zent candidates can see it.”
If a Zent candidate made the whirl, would the book magically appear in their hands, making them the king? After all, it was a ceremony at the graduation, which was the end of one’s school life. It could have been a final step.
“So I just have to ignore it?” Estelle smiled wryly.
“Pretty much.” I shrugged.
“Really, where do you learn these things?” she grumbled.
“As I said, I read it in a book.” I shrugged again.
“What kind of book has information on the Zent selection process and is accessible to a random noble?” Her voice was rightfully irritated.
I couldn’t fault her on that. It was probably really annoying to deal with my whims without knowing anything.
You know what… “By this point, if either of us gets their mind searched, we are screwed anyway, so I guess I can tell you.” I met her with my eyes. “Do you really want to know?”
Estelle froze for a second. “Sure.” Her voice mixed both concern and annoyance.
It was hard to discern which was more prevalent.
“By which means, I have no clue, maybe the Goddess of Time was involved,” I began with a completely unsure expression. “I lived in a different world, separated from this plane of existence. And there, I read ‘a journal’ of a certain noble from this place. To me, the book was just a fun fictional story, however…” I paused. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, I stood in an unknown forest. I was completely disoriented and lost. And the most bizarre thing, the forest turned out to be a location from the journal, in this world. I was just… here. And as if that wasn’t confusing enough, I found out that time-wise, I was seven years in the past from the most recent journal entry I had read.”
I guess a bit of time-out? I chuckled a bit. Estelle’s expression was quite amusing.
“If you found anything weird about me, it’s because the culture in my previous world was different. If you found my knowledge weird, it’s because I was cheating with future knowledge from the journal. If you found my treatment weird, it’s because our duchy’s higher-ups found the knowledge useful,” I said nonchalantly.
“I see.” Estelle snorted. “A former princess would have been much too sane.”
“Do I act like a princess?” I smiled.
“Not really.”
My shoulders slumped.
Estelle seemed lost in her thoughts. For a few moments, we were just both looking in different ways, until she refocused. “Was I mentioned in that journal?”
“Nope. Not a word. Our meeting was a complete coincidence. If I had known about you, I would have definitely not approached you by getting kidnapped and having my finger severed.” Even just mentioning it made me shudder a little.
“Makes sense,” Her voice fizzled out. “So you know the future.”
“Eeeh, not anymore.” I shook my head. “A lot of things changed in Ehrenfest because of my actions. I can no longer predict events inside our duchy. For example, the archducal family didn’t employ a knight named Estelle, and I don’t know what she might do.” I smirked. “Our duchy was relatively isolated, so I was hoping to make use of my predictions on the country-wide stage. Before this winter, I had this beautiful plan for everything, and then I found out that our students spread that stupid commoner rumor.” I made a very long sigh. “Everything has been disrupted. Instead of me waiting in the shadows and exploiting every opportunity, I was challenged in the etiquette class, bringing attention of Klassenberg, you were approached by Dunkelfelger knights, which led to their archduke candidate showing up, and even Drewanchel’s supervisor was giving me looks during the schtappe fundamentals class.”
It was all just so frustrating.
I sighed again. “I can no longer predict what the important duchies will do. At this point, I just improvise and hope for the best.”
If Estelle had expected some kind of assurance, I had none.
“Hmm.” She put a finger on her cheek. “There being no plan does feel a bit safer than your uninterrupted plan.”
“Ha… ha.” I produced a deadpan expression.
“Still, thinking about this is so weird.” Estelle looked down at her feet.
“I know.” I smiled wryly.
She looked up, and our eyes met. The two golden circles in front of me were unusually vibrant. “Thank you for trusting me with this.” Estelle smiled weakly.
“Well, because of me, you are seeing random magic circles everywhere. I guess it’s only fair.” I kept with my apologetic smile.
Though, it felt nice to share a little, if one didn’t think too much about the threat of being purged after a single memory search. But otherwise, it really was nice.
The graduation ceremony was just as unremarkable as the previous events, so after we returned to the dormitory, I invited Estelle to my hidden room where I spent the rest of the day being barraged by all of her questions. About my education, weird food, electricity, digital painting and a bunch of other topics.
“It really makes me feel kind of small,” Estelle remarked with a thinking expression as we were about to depart.
“Which part did you consider the weirdest?” I wondered.
“I guess there being no magic in that world,” Estelle mused. “But it makes so much sense why you are so crazy about magical research.”
I pouted. “I mean, don’t tell me it doesn’t feel cool when you bring life to a wasteland with a mere prayer.”
Like, I had treated electric appliances as everyday stuff, but if an outsider had pointed out how incredible such a thing was, I would have definitely understood their point.
“I admit it does feel divine.” Estelle nodded with a small smile before chuckling. “It doesn’t seem right. Why does being from a different world make you look more normal?”
I am normal. This world is weird.