Published: September 6, 2025
I wiped the tears from my swollen eyes and left the head priest’s office and the workshop. Inside the head priest’s room, everyone was busy with their duties. Roderich was desperately calculating while checking on Filine and Darmel, and Hartmut could be seen talking with Justox and the head priest’s attendants.
Meanwhile, Brother Cornelius, Brother Eckhardt, Angelica, and Leonore were gathered together having a discussion, and guarding the door was Judith.
...I wondered what had happened for Angelica to give up her post at the door?
“Oh, has your conversation finished?”
The first to notice me was Justox. The head priest nodded with an “Ah,” then headed to his office desk.
“Everyone, attention.”
The head priest lightly clapped his hands and began explaining to the attendants that he would be leaving Ehrenfest, and that Hartmut would succeed him as the new head priest.
“Hartmut will serve concurrently as a civil official and head priest by the lord’s order. Attendants should assist with the handover accordingly.”
“Understood.”
The attendants’ calm reaction was likely because Hartmut had already spoken with them. He had started prioritizing the documents that needed to be handed over.
Once the head priest finished speaking, it returned to business as usual. Angelica and Judith exchanged duties as guards, and everyone quietly resumed their work.
“Head priest, you can increase my workload if you like. Hartmut seems to be bearing too much.”
“No, I have no intention of adding to your duties.”
The head priest shook his head lightly. I pouted, my motivation to help cut short.
“Why is that?”
“Your term is only until you come of age. After that, Aub Ehrenfest intends to appoint Melchior as head priest. The critical roles of the head priest will be mana replenishment, supervision of the azure priests, and oversight of the orphanage. They want to avoid increasing your paperwork. Instead, you and Hartmut will focus mainly on handing over responsibilities to the azure priests.”
The attendants were aware of the head priest’s tasks, but the gray priests found it difficult to force the azure priests to work. So the main job would be to verify that the assigned work was being done properly and that no problems arose.
“Of course, to verify that, you must be knowledgeable of all duties. It will be busy, but start preparing so Rosemine can hand over smoothly to Melchior.”
“Understood.”
After that, the head priest and Hartmut began discussing how Hartmut would handle head priest duties at the temple. Whether he would live there, commute from a house in the Noble District, whether new rooms were necessary, or if he would use the current head priest’s room.
“Since the furniture here cannot be moved to Arensbach, everything will remain. If you don’t mind, you can use it as is. It will save the trouble of moving documents.”
“Thank you, I will gladly use it as is. Is it okay for the attendants to continue using the same rooms? Those who know the head priest’s work best are the most reassuring.”
“Yes, no problem. Most of my attendants can handle the duties. Those trying to take work away from the gray priests cause trouble, but you should have no issues.”
Since Hartmut would be working as both a civil official and head priest, he would mostly commute from the Noble District as before. Once the head priest leaves, he would use that office and might stay overnight at the temple during dedication ceremonies.
As the detailed discussion continued, the four o’clock bell rang. Everyone began tidying up immediately. The head priest announced the next schedule while looking around.
“From this afternoon, we will hold Hartmut’s oath ceremony in the head priest’s office. Prepare accordingly.”
“Understood.”
Back in the room, the altar was partially set up. While we had been working with the head priest, Gil, Fritz, and Wilma had been working hard.
“Now we only need to bring in the divine relics. Since the preparations for the ceremony will get busy, lunch has been set up in a separate room.”