Chatper 23: Black stone
The next day, Caroline and I flew to the temple so I could attend the meeting with Rozemyne and Ferdinand. Though, even just closing in upon the High Bishop’s chamber made me feel uneasy. It was hard to keep my neutral facade.
Once we entered, I could see that Eckhart and Justus were present as well, which didn’t exactly add to my enthusiasm about the event. Then, the feeling of awkwardness inside me got even worse as Ferdinand ordered everyone except for his two retainers and Damuel to leave the room. I would have preferred more people around. Well, if the compression step was to be discussed, it was kind of understandable. So I gave Caroline my “it’s fine” face and waited with a plastered smile until the room cleared out.
Rozemyne was glancing stealthily at me and Ferdinand, which was understandable as well after the way I had disrupted our last meeting. Honestly, I wished it was possible for her to just invite me to her hidden room, where I would have taught the step and we would have avoided all this setup.
Instead, I just took my sound-blocker and waited.
“Now that you have finished your first year and earned your schtappe, you are eligible to give your name,” Ferdinand began with an unperturbed voice.
It wasn’t exactly the topic I had expected. I was blinking in confusion as he was explaining the procedure and all the benefits it would have provided for me. It almost sounded like one big favor.
“Lord Ferdinand, pardon me, is there some less creepy option?” I asked after he finished.
Now, he was the one blinking at me.
“The girls in the dormitory mentioned this practice as something done between lovers. To be enveloped in each other’s mana so they could enjoy the feeling of intimacy. Why can’t you just use a submission contract like regular nobles? It shouldn’t be hard to add ‘I die, when you die’ in the draft.”
OK, the other girls hadn’t really talked about any mana intimacy. Such a topic would have been too indecent to discuss publicly. In reality, they had focused on the implied trust and how beautiful it sounded in such a story. I merely filled in the blanks of what they could have said for Ferdinand’s sake, hoping that he would reconsider this approach.
He stared at me with a deadpan look. His head turned a tiny bit to his left, where his retainers stood, but it looked like he decided against it and stopped before making any noticeable movement.
I glanced their way. Although this time Eckhart merely watched me while being on guard, Justus was giving me quite an awkward look.
Right, he can read lips.
For a moment, I pondered whether to cover my mouth, but I decided that I didn’t care.
“An actual alternative would have relied on a country-wide contract, which would have required informing the Zent,” Ferdinand uttered with an emotionless voice.
“What’s the problem? Enslaving commoners is nothing new; he shouldn’t care.” I shrugged.
Ferdinand sighed and turned off the sound-blocker. “Clear the room!”
After the second round of downsizing, only he, Rozemyne and I remained. With this trend, he would soon hold this conversation alone. Though, at the moment, I was fully focused on the threat in front of me.
“Rozemyne informed me that you came into possession of a quite interesting magic tool in a form of black stone,” Ferdinand remarked.
I froze in panic before looking at the culprit. Rozemyne! WHY?! I stared at her reproachfully.
“It’s not my fault!” She shook her head hastily. “I merely asked for health advice for a friend. Ferdinand figured it out instantly.”
“You are an archduke candidate; you don’t have any other friends!” I retorted.
Saying it out loud made me kind of depressed on her behalf. I might have a lot of problems, but there were actually plenty of people I could talk to without someone monitoring my conversations or me needing to keep proper etiquette.
Rozemyne clenched her teeth. “I know. I’m sorry, I was just too worried. You were unconscious, and then I saw the dark thread out of your chest, and the place got really scary dark, and…”
OK, I’m lost. I had understood me being unconscious, but after that, I had no idea what she was talking about. Though, the incoherent rambling was still enough to get across the point that I was in some kind of danger.
I turned to Ferdinand for some kind of summary, though I got only more staring from him.
“You didn’t inform me about the tool,” he said with a serious voice.
“It’s not from the book; I found it randomly in a commoner store. And I didn’t plan to do anything with it. As such, it’s neither my future knowledge nor a trend that has to be approved. So no information exchange is required.” I shrugged.
“It is when you are dealing with an execution tool.” Ferdinand glared at me.
“Execution tool?” I widened my eyes.
Dammit, why does it have to be something like that?! It was infuriating how stupidly suspicious it suddenly made me sound. I couldn’t argue against the notion that such a thing should have been disclosed.
“Yes. What I was able to find, based on Rozemyne’s description, is that this tool was meant to be used in a coup attempt of old Eisenreich.”
A coup?
“Huh, how?” I looked at him confused, as the sudden historic angle made me think about a bunch of materials I had read in the library. My mind was desperately trying to find some kind of connection so I could anchor myself.
“Since it was supposed to be a secret weapon, and all the culprits were executed, it should be obvious that there wouldn’t be much written record on the use of the device,” Ferdinand replied with a snarky voice. Though, he then divulged at least something, “As it’s based on the execution spell taught to the archduke candidates, the tool requires someone with the names of the Supreme Gods to function.”
They have names? I was staring at him more and more confused.
All those years of theology, and I hadn’t ever questioned the lack of names. I had just thought it was normal, with them being at the top of the pantheon. Being more godlike, like primordial entities.
Ferdinand massaged his temple. “For some bizarre reason, when Rozemyne supplied her mana, the tool thought that she already had the names, and it activated.”
His voice was definitely annoyed. Though, I had a feeling it was less about me almost dying, and more about a magic tool not reacting as it should have.
“However, despite Rozemyne’s abnormality, she doesn’t actually possess the names. The tool is most likely stuck.”
That doesn’t sound that bad. “So I merely need to destroy the tool, no?” I wondered.
Ferdinand shook his head. “The spell was already cast. Rozemyne told me that she even suffered a vision of you two being connected.”
“It was really freaky.” Rozemyne grimaced, trying to describe the event once again.
I instinctively patted my chest, as if I could find that dark “thread,” before Ferdinand continued, “She will acquire the names in her third year, which most likely finishes the spell.”
I get executed in her third year? I breathed out slowly. Can we please slow down with the revelations? I needed a bit of a pause.
At this point, I was just staring at my hands, unable to react.
“But Ferdinand said that offering your name could save your life,” Rozemyne exclaimed with a hopeful voice.
Ferdinand nodded. “If someone takes your name, as you aptly pointed out, you will be hidden in their mana. Luckily for you, this is not a real execution spell, but a mere magic tool mimicking one. As such, offering a name should suffice.”
Can’t I just hide myself in a mana-blocking bag? I whined in my head.
All of this was too much. I couldn’t focus properly when it was my life on the line. My mind was just bouncing between “yeah, let’s offer my name” and “this is some kind of trick, just like with the colors. He isn’t telling me something.”
“The other side can even extend you a lifeline through this connection,” Ferdinand added.
Though, I was distracted. I was desperately trying to figure a way out. My body urged me to run in a random direction, which wasn’t really helpful in the face of such a spell. I was just stuck.
“Is this an offer of help, or an order?” I finally spoke up.
“If you wish to die, you are free to do so.” Ferdinand shrugged.
“Alright.” I nodded, making a polite smile. “Thank you for the information. I will think about this, and in less than three years, I will give my name to someone trustworthy.”
“Who?” Ferdinand narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know. Someone dependable, maybe my brother or my younger sister.”
I was a bit fearful that Estelle might be tempted to order me to act more safely or something. As such, I was thinking about people who weren’t completely exasperated by my behavior.
“Didn’t you just complain about the procedure being indecent? And you want to involve a sibling?” Ferdinand pointed out.
Well, it was more like my attempt to make it uncomfortable for him as I wanted to avoid getting bound by him. Naturally, I couldn’t mention such a thing openly.
“Yeah, that’s true.” I put a finger on my cheek. “Maybe my attendant, or someone else. I would be fine with Rozemyne, but with her health, I am kind of hesitant.”
“Hey, I am much better!” she protested.
“How is your exercising? Can you walk for at least half a bell without those enhancement tools?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
She smiled weakly. “Ehm, there was a lot of work with the printing industry and socializing, and organizing trips, and…”
“That’s why,” I retorted with a forceful smile.
“You can’t just choose someone randomly.” Ferdinand shook his head. “Do you think we would allow anyone unproven to have control over you? We can’t take such a risk with someone who possesses as much knowledge about this duchy as you.”
“Fine, then I’ll give it to Charlotte,” I replied resolutely. “Or even Sylvester. That should be enough. If you don’t trust the aub, then there is no point.”
“Very well.” Ferdinand backed away.
I wanted to sigh in relief, though I was too afraid to do it, so I merely nodded. It made me feel as if he had finally put away a rope instead of tying me to a chair.
“This will not rebuild much trust in you for Eckhart and Justus,” Ferdinand complained under his breath.
Are you not their lord? They follow your lead! Even Wilfried managed to order his retainers not to harm me in retribution. I bit my tongue to not say anything out loud. I wasn’t being forced to give my name, so I very much wanted to avoid any further remarks that could displease him. Rather, I wanted to look inconspicuous and leave this place as fast as possible.
Thankfully, we proceeded to something more productive, and I was asked to teach Rozemyne the fourth step of her compression method. It was way better for my mental health.
“Wow, it frees so much more space,” Rozemyne mused out loud.
“Yeah, between spreading this method and the possible new divine protections on the horizon, the duchy will have more than enough mana.” I smiled.
It should decrease everyone’s reliance on Rozemyne and Ferdinand. I would very much like it if the duchy wasn’t on the brink of collapse every time something happened to a single person.
“Right?” Rozemyne smiled as well. “Our trip to the temple looks more than likely. Sylvester said we had already managed more than two-thirds of the signatures.
“That’s great.” It made me whistle, as I hadn’t expected such a fast pace.
Rozemyne’s smile morphed into a smirk. “It really helped that the date was chosen for a day after the public class on the compression method. In our messaging, we made both events seem bundled together and connected to the temple. Hopefully, everyone gains more appreciation for praying.”
“Smart.” I liked the idea.
The more people associated the temple with a power boost, the more inclined they would be to participate in these events. We just had to keep the dominos falling, making it seem like one big trend—something too valuable to risk being left behind for.
“I was thinking…” Rozemyne pressed her lips. “Could you visit the temple as a blue shrine maiden during the trip and produce a divine instrument?”
Wha…? I went through all that trouble to fake it, and you want me to show it publicly? I looked at her questioningly before turning towards Ferdinand.
Usually, he was the one who would stop this kind of thing. But this time, he merely listened.
No refusal? I was confused.
Like sure, it would have made the ball rolling even faster. The adults might not care as much about the divine instruments, but I was sure the kids would be easily impressed. And saying that everyone who dedicated their mana to the temple’s instruments could also produce them would give us a bunch of young advocates in dozens of families.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “It should help you sell this.”
The instruments were highly impractical for anyone but strong archnobles. However, that also meant that the tools could be turned into a status symbol. A mednoble could probably not use them, but maybe at least produce them to show off.
“Thanks. If this works well, it might eventually ease the burden of supplying the temple. With the entwickeln of the lower city and Haldenzel’s ritual, Spring Prayer will be really tight.” Rozemyne furrowed her brows.
Yeah, there was a lot of mana to be spent, and a lot of work in general, and we hadn’t even touched on the printing in Groschel and Leisegang. Good thing I’m no longer in charge. I wanted to dust my shoulder.
Then again, I didn’t want others to collapse under the pressure either.
“We can ease the burden on the archducal family,” I mused. “Since you will be visiting Haldenzel on top of your regular spots, Estelle and I can cover some winter mansions in the Central District to compensate. I don’t know how you are planning to incorporate Estelle as your knight, but on my part…” I turned to Ferdinand. “I assume my spring route won’t touch any provinces north of the Central District if we are going with the narrative that I can’t make it to Haldenzel.”
“Correct.” He nodded. “If you wish to increase your portion, I will add the towns between Joisontak and Haseney.”
“In that case, give a few towns to Estelle as well, in the north of the Central District,” Rozemyne proposed. “She can visit those, while me and my siblings prepare for our departure to Haldenzel. And then we can pick her up on our way north.”
“As you wish.” Ferdinand nodded.
“You know, having retainers who are also part of the temple is pretty neat. It’s so much easier to plan for both the temple’s and the castle’s duties.” Rozemyne made another content smile.
“Now you only need retainers skilled in printing to complete the set,” I joked.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind nobles who could magic up printing presses or lathes to save us the trouble with transport,” Rozemyne snickered.
“You mean like this?” I turned to the side and produced my schtappe. “Lathe.” Creating the whole thing in the middle of the room.
“Wow, magic really is awesome.” Rozemyne grinned.
“Where did you learn that spell?” Ferdinand narrowed his eyes.
“I made it myself.” I smiled proudly.
Nothing forbidden, just my own invention.
“Can you also make a printing press?” Rozemyne asked with an excited voice.
“Ehm, I would have to work on its production to get a proper mental image.”
These big, complex things weren’t exactly easy to imagine.
One would have thought that the schtappe weapons with inserted magic circles were harder, but the magic circles in them tended to just stick in one’s memory after enough repetition. They didn’t really fade from memory like other stuff. Probably because mana was being applied.
As such, after a while, it was more like imagining a pointy stick and the circles were just there, everything ready to make a spear.
“Ha, so I might be the first one to make it.” Rozemyne pretended to hold an invisible wand and cast: “insatsu-ki.”
“What? No! That’s awfully complicated to say,” I complained.
Don’t make spells that will be hard for me to say! I could tolerate her regular inventions being named weirdly, but the spells required precise pronunciation to work.
“No, it’s not!” Rozemyne crossed her arms. “Everyone can say it easily.”
“Why not stick to the words from this world?” I crossed my arms as well.
I wasn’t budging on this.
“Oh, because ‘lathe’ sounds so native around here,” Rozemyne said teasingly.
“That’s because there was no equivalent word. Unlike ‘press,‘ which had already existed before. And even then, I chose ‘lathe’ because it has only two syllables.”
If you come up with some short Japanese words, I won’t complain.
“You don’t even say it right.” Rozemyne pouted. “I am almost certain that it is pronounced differently.”
“Huh?” I froze.
“You are saying it like that type of coffee. I’m pretty sure that’s not correct,” she complained.
Like sure, I had been kind of saying it like latte, but…
“Why didn’t you say anything when we were designing the thing?” I exclaimed. Years ago! “You were pronouncing it just like me!”
“Because I don’t know how it is supposed to be pronounced. I was reading a lot of foreign books, not pronouncing the words in them. I didn’t want to point it out when I didn’t know the correct form.” Rozemyne grimaced.
Did we screw up? What if some future reincarnated visitor wanted to magic up a cup of coffee with milk and they accidentally produced a lathe? Well, they would have to use the proper mental image. It probably didn’t matter.
Still, it made me feel awkward. It was just, “lathe” had been that kind of word that hadn’t come up in conversation. I had watched videos of CNC machines at work, sure, but just like Rozemyne, I too had only encountered the word lathe during reading.
“What is even the point of the spell?” Ferdinand frowned, kicking me down even more. “These machines need to be set up and work long-term to be efficient. You said it yourself. You won’t be able to leave it behind, not with the mana requirement of something of this size.”
I disappeared the lathe, pointed my schtappe above Ferdinand’s head, and then slowly moved it sideways.
Here, a short-term use. I produced the lathe in the air beside him.
The machine immediately fell down. Though, I made it disappear before the impact on the floor.
I didn’t want to risk a large bang that might be heard outside. Eckhart would have definitely rushed in.
“So you spend a lot of mana to maintain an attack that can be easily avoided by stepping to the side?” Ferdinand raised an eyebrow.
Whatever. I didn’t have the energy to argue. Instead, I turned to Rozemyne. “I think it would be funny if Rozemyne squashed someone with a printing press. The only thing more ironic would be her crushing people with a bookshelf.” I smirked.
“Did you have to remind me of that embarrassment?” Rozemyne covered her face. “You are a meanie.”
“Just an idea.” I widened my smile.
As if on command, Ferdinand took away Rozemyne’s sound-blocker. “We need to discuss something in private.”
Was he really that allergic to the word “idea” in Rozemyne’s presence?
“Why am I the one being excluded?” She frowned.
Though, neither of us could reply since the sound-blockers were already active.
“I heard you managed to access the underground archive in the library,” Ferdinand began.
“Yes, we made quite a bit of progress.” I nodded.
“How did you know about the archive?” he wondered.
Something about that question didn’t feel right. Especially because Ferdinand’s voice sounded eerily relaxed.
“Professor Solange told me about it,” I replied, feeling a bit unsettled.
“Is that so?” Ferdinand remarked.
I glanced at Rozemyne, and her previous pout was nowhere to be seen; she was giving me a seriously worried look.
Seeing her made me panic because she was actually way better at deciphering Ferdinand’s facade. From her perspective, this wasn’t just unsettling, but most likely terrifying.
I’m on thin ice, echoed in my mind as I was trying to remember the event as accurately as possible.
“Professor Solange was helping us with retrieving the materials for the future classes for our students to transcribe. She was nice enough to let me into the archive near the service desk so I could look through more study guides and research notes to produce a pipeline for us. When I came across a door, I asked her whether it was another archive that was further restricted. Though, it was just an access to the library’s garden.” I shrugged. “Professor Solange pointed to a different door, which was in fact a path to a hidden archive. She felt glum about the fact that no one had visited it since the civil war, so I kind of made it happen.”
I thought it was innocuous enough, but Ferdinand was still staring at me with an “undecided” look.
“I mean, we got her permission to enter. We didn’t break any rules.” I crossed my arms.
Though, his stare made me really doubtful.
“She is a mednoble. What permission could she have provided? The archlibrarians are the ones with the keys.” Ferdinand narrowed his eyes.
Oh, right. I pressed my lips. “They were all killed in the purge. Professor Solange is completely alone in maintaining the whole library.”
“I see.” Finally, his stare on me diminished, as his eyes focused on something in the distance.
I was dreading the moment he would return, but when he did, his look was merely annoyed, which was relieving. Annoyed is fine. Annoyed doesn’t feel like execution.
“You are forbidden to enter that place!” Ferdinand ordered.
But… I stopped myself.
I had narrowly avoided being forced to give my name. I didn’t want to voice any protest and give him some justification to “bring back the rope.” I merely nodded.
“The archive is there for the needs of the foundational suppliers. The information stored there wasn’t intended for mere archnobles, and definitely not for mednobles. Do you understand?” Ferdinand resumed his stare.
I nodded again.
“You intended this to be a trend, so it qualifies for approval, does it not?” he made a jab at my own argument with the black stone.
It caused me a strong pain on the left side of my head, as I almost exploded into a bunch of cursing and shouting.
He was the one who had insisted on me running around blind in the Academy. I had asked him to teach me what he had considered dangerous if he had wanted me to avoid it. He had refused.
Instead, we had gone with his stupid “you can’t cause trouble if you don’t know anything” option.
If you hadn’t wanted me in the underground archive, you should have told me to avoid the underground archive! Not to threaten my life after I stumbled on the fricking underground archive!
“You will have to rely on Wilfried, Rozemyne and Charlotte for information that can be made public. I will speak with Wilfried and Charlotte tomorrow.” Ferdinand glanced at Rozemyne, who gave him a confused look. “You were at least smart enough not to mention it to Rozemyne right off the bat. It would have definitely inspired her into some kind of rampage. I will consult with Rihyarda about this, and she will instruct her other retainers.” He nodded to himself before turning back to me.
“What about the ritual that we have already acquired?” I asked.
“It is a ritual that used to be conducted in public; as such, there is no problem with its use.” Ferdinand didn’t seem very interested.
It’s at least something, I thought dejectedly. With me being cut from the archive, Charlotte would have to wait a whole extra year to look through it. This single ritual would be our only contribution for a while. There goes Charlotte’s credit next winter. I just elevated her siblings instead.
I knew I had said that a benefit for the whole duchy was fine in itself, but I still wanted to claim at least some credit. Otherwise, all my boastful declarations about getting Charlotte the seat of aub would amount to a farce.
“Before Wilfried and Rozemyne depart for the Academy, I will educate them on which parts are restricted to the archduke candidate course—being too dangerous to share,” Ferdinand declared.
I kept nodding.
This time, I managed to stay in the room until the end of the discussion rather than storming out. Though, the second alternative had looked so tempting.
Still, a death stare and a ban on interaction. I refocused as I stood up, ready to leave the room.
It kind of sounded like yet another connection to the path leading to the Zenthood. He had threatened me out of nowhere when I had mentioned the white tree. He had threatened Rozemyne when she had seen the instructions in the bible. This session felt kind of similar to those others.
Estelle will definitely be mad at me for bringing her there. I wanted to sigh.
But this wasn’t my fault! I had no idea. If Ferdinand had asked me about the statue in the library, then sure, that was on me, but… OK, on second thought, I prefer this kind of wrong accusation.
This conversation had pretty much confirmed that it would have been quite a short talk, and a lot of climbing the stairs.
At least, the underground archive probably wasn’t that threatening since Ferdinand was fine with Rozemyne and Wilfried accessing it. Maybe there were just some clues towards the further steps that only someone knowledgeable could follow. I had no way of knowing as asking about it risked swift punishment.
Honestly, this sucks, I thought as I reached the door.
“Mila, aren’t you forgetting something?” Ferdinand looked at me knowingly.
“The black stone is in our winter mansion. I will deliver it posthaste,” I replied with a tired voice.
You can study it to your heart’s content.
Knowing the nature of the tool made it kind of a nonissue. He could already cast the execution spell, so it didn’t really matter whether he had double the options.
It’s kind of disappointing. I thought the tool would be something cool.
“I will be waiting.” Ferdinand nodded.
As I left the High Bishop’s chambers, I could see that Eckhart was now sharing Justus’s staggered expression. He had most likely been informed of my initial words. Well, him looking dumbfounded was definitely better than him slamming my head on the floor, so I didn’t care much.
I joined Caroline so we could fly home, retrieve the stone, and be done with this whole meeting.