Published: September 6, 2025
After reading the materials until closing time, I returned the library key to the storage box in the office. My head, filled with all the new knowledge I had gained from the numerous documents, felt pleasantly light and satisfied.
“Even if no member of the royal family is present, as long as the key manager is available, it’s possible to enter the library. And if the royals aren’t around, there’s no need to exclude other students. Therefore, in place of the busy royals, I could…”
I suggested that I would continue reading the materials, but Richarda and Anastasius immediately rejected the idea.
“That cannot be allowed. Lady Rosemine has many priorities, such as joint research with the large territories, and when there’s no one to forcibly bring her along, we cannot send her to such an inaccessible library alone.”
“Your attendants speak correctly. Once Rosemine starts reading, she won’t listen to us at all, so we cannot let her enter alone.”
Everyone else agreed with their words. I looked around, but no one sided with me.
…What on earth is this!? Not a single ally in sight!
I turned my gaze to Siegiswald, who probably had the most authority here. With a gentle smile, Siegiswald looked at Altansia and Hannelore.
“From now on, the library is off-limits until we call you again. Neither Altansia nor Hannelore must open the key even if Rosemine requests it.”
“Understood.”
Although I had discovered an interesting library, I was forbidden from entering and trudged back to the dormitory.
After returning, Richarda scolded me endlessly for giving half-hearted responses to Siegiswald and for stubbornly trying to hold on until Anastasius forcibly took the materials away and dragged me out of the library. Wilfried was exasperated, saying, “Rosemine, what happened to your saying you want to avoid involvement with the royal family as much as possible?”
…Brother Wilfried, I don’t think this is my fault.
A few days after entering the library, an Ordnance arrived from Rufen. It asked three times if I wanted to do Ditter at the knight barracks. I replied, “If it’s joint research, I accept.” Soon after, Hannelore sent a message apologizing, saying she had misspoken about joint research, which I accepted gladly.
“Rosemine might do something else for joint research. I will accompany you to the knight barracks.”
“Brother, isn’t it just your curiosity about Ditter?”
Charlotte’s remark left Wilfried speechless. The boys, having read Roderich’s Ditter stories, had suddenly developed a craze for Ditter. They were probably curious about the preceding and following rituals, but mainly, it was about the Ditter itself.
Seeing Wilfried at a loss for words, Charlotte exhaled lightly.
“…Brother seems restless, and since I’m interested in research that increases the gods’ blessings, I shall accompany you too. Is that alright, older sister?”
Charlotte said this, looking at me. There was no way I could refuse the earnest request of my hardworking little sister, who wanted to gather as much information as possible before the blessing ceremony next year. Fulfilling the requests of a cute younger sister is a sister’s duty.
“Of course, Charlotte. Since Brother Wilfried and you will come along, let’s have your civil official apprentices assist as well.”
I gathered the civil official apprentices of Wilfried and Charlotte in the multipurpose hall, handed out paper, and began teaching them how to conduct surveys.
Since there was no printer in the dormitory, preparing identical questionnaire sheets was difficult. So, I prepared a single question sheet at the top, and the civil officials would ask questions and write down answers in a street-survey style. This way, only one copy of the question sheet needed to be copied by the apprentices, and as long as the answer format was standardized, the data would be easy to aggregate.
“Lord Wilfried…”
“Give up, Ignatz. If it’s a new method devised by Rosemine, you have no choice but to learn it. You’ll have to use it repeatedly anyway.”