Published: August 10, 2026
"If there are royal family members from lanzenave besides Leoncio, then I should hurry. Come to the workshop, rosemine."
"Huh? Aren't we going to hear everyone's reports from here on today...?"
"That goes to the back burner. Tell everyone to report to Justox and Hartmut instead."
Until dinner was ready, I ended up staying in the workshop Ferdinand had given me. The room assigned to Ferdinand in the West Wing had been ravaged by lanzenave and was still a total mess. There were wounds and scratches everywhere, and broken things were scattered across the room. Looking around, I grimaced.
"This is a terrible sight."
"I only had the remaining luggage moved out to the guest room."
"The safe luggage has already been moved by Zelgius so that Lord Ferdinand can rest in another room, and the luggage brought from Ehrenfest has also been put in order there. I didn't expect we'd need the workshop this urgently."
As Justox carried a wooden box filled with materials taken from the workshop in the library, delivered by teleportation from Ehrenfest, onto a wagon, he shrugged helplessly. Brother Cornelius, walking behind me, raised his voice.
"Please wait, Lord Ferdinand! Do you intend to hole up in the secret room with Lady Rosemine, just the two of you? No matter how you look at it, I cannot agree to only two people. At the very least, please let a Guard Knight or a retainer who can assist with the preparations accompany you."
"Anyone who wishes to come may come as they please. We don't have time, so hurry up. Don't be a nuisance."
Ferdinand took the wagon from Justox and briskly entered the secret room. Brother Eckhardt stopped in front of the secret room and stood guard there, then jerked his chin as if to say, "Get in already." I nodded and entered the secret room.
...I thought there was a mana capacity limit in Lord Ferdinand's secret room.
That was how the temple's secret room worked. I couldn't imagine that a secret room in Arensbach, where there were so many things to be cautious about, wouldn't have a similar restriction. After entering the secret room, I waited for Brother Cornelius and the other Guard Knights to come in.
As expected, no one entered.
"...Lord Ferdinand, it seems Brother Cornelius was bounced out?"
"As it should be."
Even as he said that, the magic tool used to communicate from outside the secret room flashed brightly, and Brother Cornelius's voice echoed in.
"Lord Ferdinand, lift the restrictions immediately!"
"I refuse. Raise your mana so you can enter here. Eckhardt, if they make too much noise, tie them up. Don't call them until dinner."
After Ferdinand said that into the magic tool for transmitting voices from outside and ended the conversation, he turned back to me.
"rosemine, come here. I want to examine you while the noisy ones are gone. Understanding your current condition is of the utmost importance."
Saying something rather harsh so casually, Ferdinand started his usual health check by touching my forehead and wrist. As he checked various things, Ferdinand muttered in dissatisfaction, "You've become remarkably good at putting on a front, haven't you?"
"Oh my, isn't that something to be praised for, becoming very noble-like?"
I pouted, thinking it was outrageous to be criticized for getting better at covering things up, and Ferdinand lightly pinched my cheek before glaring at me.
"I don't feel praised at all..."
"Your mana is far more unstable than I expected. Isn't the torrent of mana during your prayers caused by this instability as well? There was no need for prayers on the scale of flying out of the city for the dead's memorial services or healing the soldiers."
"I only offered prayers to mourn the dead, both enemies and allies alike, and as for healing the soldiers, I had my eyes closed, so I couldn't tell the proper amount."
At my words, Ferdinand gave me an unpleasant look and said, "Is there any need to mourn enemies?"
"...Even if Jurgenschmidt doesn't have that kind of common sense, I wanted to do it."
"...A custom from there, then."