Published: August 10, 2026
Prompted by Ferdinand, I got out of my Mount and looked around.
I left the Guard Knights, who were still arguing over who had finally dealt the finishing blow to Grauozam, to their debate and looked up at Ferdinand.
"Lord Ferdinand, is it true that the situation in Ehrenfest's city is over?"
"There is no point in lying about such a thing. An Ordonnanz from the aub arrived a little while ago. It seems Grauozam and Georgine's movements were perfectly synchronized."
From the timing, it seemed that while the Gibe members were draining the land's mana, Georgine arrived in Ehrenfest's city just as Grauozam occupied the Gibe's Mansion.
"When we sent our Ordonnanz here, it seems she was heading toward the foundation chamber. Knowing that we had arrived here seems to have put her somewhat at ease."
"What has happened to downtown and the temple?"
That was what mattered most to me. If Foster Father had settled things, did that mean Georgine had reached the foundation? Or perhaps, while they were preparing at the foundation, word arrived that she had been captured elsewhere? I had no idea what was going on.
"...Unfortunately, we have not yet received information that detailed."
It seemed the only report was that the conflict with Georgine had ended. At Ferdinand's words, I wanted to return to Ehrenfest's city as soon as possible. I couldn't stop worrying about what had happened to downtown and the temple. If we left right now, could we reach Ehrenfest by nightfall?
"Then let's return to Ehrenfest as quickly as possible."
"...Wait. If we are returning, then we must settle our affairs here properly as well. We cannot simply leave everything as it is."
At Ferdinand's reprimand, I was at a loss for words.
If I were being honest, now that we had at least driven off the threat of Former Berkeshtock, I wanted to leave everything else to the local people who remained and hurry back.
"What exactly do we need to do? When will I be able to return to Ehrenfest?"
"The Gibe of Gerlach itself can be left to the remaining knights and nobles, and in the end, we can seek the aub's instructions. However, as aub, you must issue orders to the Arensbach side, and more importantly, we must settle matters with Dunkelfelger."
"What do you mean by settle matters?"
I understood that we couldn't treat Dunkelfelger lightly, considering how much they had helped us, but if we brought them along to Ehrenfest city under the pretense of receiving Aub Ehrenfest's thanks, wouldn't we be able to depart immediately?
"First, there must be a victory declaration for ditter. Unless you, the one who invited Dunkelfelger's knights to a real ditter, declare its end, the ditter is not over. If you return to Ehrenfest like this, you will have to bring Dunkelfelger's knights to Ehrenfest, where the battle has only just ended."
I didn't really understand why Ferdinand was so grimly opposed to Dunkelfelger's knights accompanying us, so I put a hand to my cheek and tilted my head.
"Is there some problem? They helped us so much, so it's important for Foster Father to thank and commend them, isn't it? If we use that as a pretext, we can have them accompany us and leave quickly."
"If you do that, Ehrenfest's food stores and sake cellar will be emptied."
Ferdinand shook his head with a sigh. I hadn't been awake, so I didn't feel it myself, but apparently the delay in departure until I woke up had led Dunkelfelger's knights to hold an endless "reflection meeting," which was really just a banquet. I heard that the food and alcohol in Arensbach's castle had been disastrously depleted in less than a day.
They had been busy preparing for war for about a month, and now, just after finally defeating their long-standing enemy, bringing all of Dunkelfelger's knights to an Ehrenfest that was exhausted from the effort would apparently deal Ehrenfest a massive blow. Even the close aides who had been listening to our conversation made complicated faces and said, "Well, I do think Lord Ferdinand's concern is justified."
"But we can't just send them home without anything, can we?"