Published: September 6, 2025
After returning to Gibe’s Mansion, I immediately had the documents brought out. They were all old wooden tags. I skimmed through them lightly, then, with Roderich and Hartmut’s help, I diligently copied them.
My stay in Kilnberga was brief—just the short period needed for Benno and the civil officials to finish their discussions and arrangements, and for Gutenberg and others to prepare the work environment. The clerks in charge of printing were getting used to their tasks, so the time spent staying at Gibe’s place was steadily shortening. I had to hurry to copy everything.
The remaining documents weren’t stories but concise chronological records, listing when events occurred, or summaries of what happened to those left behind from Bosegates and the former Eisenreich nobility. Apparently, these were copies of reports sent to Zent.
...After all, there’s a difference between what’s conveyed verbally and what’s written down in records.
A straightforward list of unemotional facts makes events look much simpler than when they’re spoken about. Yet, I gained a clearer understanding of the movements of the people from Bosegates, who rarely appeared in the histories I was taught or in Gibe’s stories.
In the few years before Aub-Eisenreich’s rebellion, merchants came and went frequently; the same merchants entered and exited several times between spring and autumn, and food-related trades increased sharply.
Since most merchants from Bosegates who were left behind couldn’t obtain citizenship unless they were very wealthy, almost all of them became traveling merchants, spreading out to various places to earn a living.
...Without citizenship, you can’t rent a house or shop, and you can’t get a job or get married either.
How many years ago was that? Memories of what Otto told me about the lives of traveling merchants resurfaced. Perhaps Otto is a descendant of Bosegates. Thinking about that, I continued copying the documents.
During my stay, I finished copying all the documents safely. As usual, I took Benno back to the Ehrenfest Temple. I arranged to have souvenirs made from materials only found around Kilnberga delivered to the Ink Workshop, discussed training for the people who came from Greschel, then saw Benno off.
That marked the end of my prayer ceremony.
“Since you’re accepting the blue apprentices, Lady Rosemine, you might find things busier after the prayer ceremony than during it,” Zaam said.
“Oh, Zaam and Fritz have taken the lead in instructing the gray priests who will be the new attendants. So preparations for their acceptance should be complete, right?”
Zaam gave a wry smile and nodded at my words. The training for chefs and their assistants, the gray shrine maidens dispatched through Frieda, had already begun, and apparently, the orphanage’s meals had increased. The ingredient procurement was contracted with the shops favored by the apprentices’ families, so new vendors were coming to the temple.
“Of course, the furniture and study tools are all ready. We’ve planned daily schedules so the apprentices can move around as much as possible until they get used to the temple. We also asked Lady Filine for her input on what kind of education is necessary for noble children.”
According to Zaam, Filine had been teaching the temple’s attendants various things while I was away for the prayer ceremony.
“If everything’s ready, let’s move the children. The temple will be lively from tomorrow onward.”
I had wanted to welcome the blue apprentices while I could keep an eye on them, so they had been waiting in the children’s room until the prayer ceremony ended. I sent the ordnance to the castle and asked to have the children moved by carriage.
...The children are all set. Now, the remaining matter...
“Now then, Brother Cornelius. How is Brother Wilfried doing?”
I couldn’t ask about Wilfried at Gibe’s Mansion, where I didn’t know who might be listening. When I asked, a brief tension passed through the aides present. Even without a change in their expressions, the atmosphere shifted, and I became wary myself.