Published: August 15, 2025
Unlike Father and Brother Eckhardt, who were left breathless, the high priest twisted his mouth with interest and urged me to continue.
“Go on, I’ll listen.”
“First, the teaching target will be limited to those who have learned mana compression at the noble academy. I have no intention of teaching those who cannot compress mana on their own. This is a matter of life and death.”
“Of course.”
The high priest nodded slowly. Father and Brother Eckhardt nodded as well. Only Darmel stood awkwardly, looking more concerned about how he would be treated.
“Also, I will limit the recipients to members of my faction.”
“...Yours?”
“Yes. I have no intention of assisting the mana amplification of those who oppose me.”
Originally, I was a commoner only by mana capacity, yet I was favored as a blue shrine maiden apprentice and became the lord’s adopted daughter. I want to maintain some advantage in mana capacity, and I certainly don’t want to help those who might become my enemies by increasing their mana.
“If I limit it to members of my faction, that is, those belonging to the Florentia faction, it will help to chip away at the Georgine faction, right? And if I do that, Foster Father, who wants to make Brother Wilfried the next lord, will make sure everyone knows that Brother Wilfried belongs to the Florentia faction by any means necessary.”
No matter how much the Georgine faction tries to pull Brother Wilfried in, if both he and the lord deny it and firmly declare he belongs to the Florentia faction, there’s nothing others can do, and the rumors will calm down.
Right now, the lack of proper education for Wilfried is the cause of uncertainty and anxiety, so as long as his parents keep a strong hold on him, it will be fine.
“But doesn’t that make you the one to select the recipients? I can’t help but feel uneasy about leaving it to you.”
“I share that unease.”
I’m not well-versed in noble connections; I barely understand who is connected to whom and how. I only just memorized the blacklist of relatives and the nobles close to the former head priest. Those relatives and nobles on the blacklist aren’t unified; they switch opinions easily depending on the benefits they can get. So even if entrusted to me, I’d have trouble deciding who to trust.
“That’s why I decided that becoming a recipient requires the approval of six people: first, the lord and lady, who are the highest authorities in Ehrenfest; then, the high priest, who is fair and impartial with abundant information; Father, the knights order commander and key to military strength; Mother, the practical leader of the Florentia faction; and finally, me as the knowledge provider... all must give their approval.”
The members I listed are basically my guardians. If all of them can approve, the chance of them turning against me is remarkably low. It’s my way of self-protection.
The high priest raised the corner of his lips with a playful expression.
“Oh? Isn’t the lord and lady enough?”
“Foster Father would prioritize parental affection and might provide knowledge regardless of which faction Brother Wilfried belongs to. And I think Florentia-sama might waver if appealed to on the basis of parental affection.”
Upon hearing my words, Father frowned deeply, looking extremely troubled, and hesitantly spoke.
“Rosemine, do you not trust the lord and lady?”
“No, I do trust them. But I believe parental affection means prioritizing one’s child above all else. I... I was treated that way by Father and Mother.”
The high priest seemed to understand the kind of parental affection I pictured. A nostalgic and bitterly complex expression appeared on his face—he had met my parents before.
“You consider parental affection based on that? …That won’t fly in noble society.”
Even so, the parental affection I was most imprinted with was from the era of Reno, who generously gave me books and would stand up to nobles to protect her children.
“Everyone thinks differently about parental affection. …Also, no matter how carefully we select recipients, if the compression method spreads to other territories like Arensbach, it will be meaningless. So I plan to bind it with contract magic so it cannot be taught to others. Is there contract magic of a scale that affects not only Ehrenfest but other territories?”