Published: August 25, 2025
The next day’s lectures were arithmetic, theology, and magic. Each subject aimed to deepen the knowledge gained last year. Since I had thoroughly prepared in advance, there was absolutely no problem. The faces of the second-year students at Ehrenfest sitting in the lecture hall looked bright.
The second-year arithmetic class focused on using calculators to handle large-digit calculations. For this, I had been taught how to use the calculator. The high priest advised, “Use the slate except during exams. For verification calculations, don’t use the calculator; you should rely on written calculations.” That was the level I was at.
Of course, we also studied some essentials like the budget items of the territory and their proportions, as well as tax calculations, but it wasn’t too difficult. It was enough to be at about the level of upper elementary school. More advanced arithmetic was reserved for those on the civil servant track.
“I’m confident in arithmetic because I’ve been thoroughly trained helping out at the temple,” Filine said, her fresh eyes shining as she finished preparing for the test in the lecture hall. Wilfried frowned slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant.
“Helping out at the temple means assisting your uncle, right?”
“That’s right, Lord Wilfried. I’ve been well trained over about a year.”
“...Filine, you actually go to the temple?”
Roderich’s dark brown eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Filine. His aversion to the temple was a typical noble’s reaction, and I chuckled lightly.
“I’m the head priest. Since Filine is my attendant, it’s necessary for her to come and go from the temple. Hartmut and the Guard Knight apprentices also come and go daily. Roderich, please think carefully about that.”
Although Matthias told him to think it over and hold off, it seemed Roderich was steadily deciding to dedicate his name to me. Recently, he’s been making efforts to deepen his interactions with Filine and my close attendants, and he’s often been nearby during lectures in the hall.
Maybe because he declared once that he wanted to dedicate his name, my attendants no longer show excessive distrust when Roderich approaches; rather, their gazes sharpen, as if observing him carefully.
As expected from the start, the arithmetic test finished easily. I had told everyone to always verify their calculations to avoid mistakes, so I didn’t expect any major errors.
“Compared to assisting Lord Ferdinand, this was easy. Even if I failed, I wouldn’t be scolded or have to redo anything,” Filine said with a small laugh. When she first started helping, she was overwhelmed by unfamiliar calculations and the head priest’s cold repeated remarks of “That’s wrong, redo it,” but recently, her mistakes have decreased and she understands that the priest’s expressionless face is not anger, so her calculation speed has improved.
“Next is theology.”
In theology, we had to memorize the name of the god of our birth season and their retainers, plus choose another god and retainers, learning their names and domains. It might be difficult for those who hadn’t memorized anything, but at Ehrenfest, all second-years already knew all the gods from playing with the Sacred Scripture Picture Book and karuta. It was a breeze.
“Rosemine, which gods will you choose to write about?”
Those with only one attribute could pick any god and retainers, but those with multiple attributes had to choose from their attributes. This was important to know which gods were likely to grant their divine protection by the third year.
Since I was born in summer, I decided to memorize the god of fire Raiden Shaft and their retainers, and I had to choose one more. As I possessed all attributes, I could choose any.
…Well, frankly, I already knew which god I wanted protection from.
“I plan to choose wind and its retainers, related to libraries and books. I think I pray most often to the goddess of wisdom Mestionora.”