Published: August 10, 2026
When I asked in high spirits, Ferdinand gave me an extremely cold look.
I thought it would be best to discuss everything with him just in case, but this wasn't exactly something that needed to be decided right now.
"I thought that in an emergency, thinking about something fun would help me stay positive, but this wasn't the kind of topic that would trouble Lord Ferdinand. I'll ask the gods and decide on my own."
...Which one should I choose? By the will of the gods.
I imagined the right side as Alexandria and the left side as Venice, moving my finger accordingly in my head, when Ferdinand suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Wait. You are not praying to the gods right now. What exactly are you thinking? There is nothing wrong with trying to stay positive, but when it comes to naming, caution is necessary. There is a name with an unfamiliar sound. Shouldn't you hear the reason you chose it and your attachment to it before making a decision?"
At Ferdinand's words, my attendants nodded several times.
"That's true. The name of a territory is very important, so it would be better to ask everyone's opinions and carefully consider it."
"The name of the territory will be used not only by Lady Rosemine, but by the aub from generation to generation."
It felt similar to when I suggested "Kensaku" and "Opack" as names for the library magic tool, got rejected, and before I knew it, it had become "Adret."
...Huh? Could it be that it's getting rejected indirectly again?
If it's just the library magic tool's name, I can always make another one and name it whatever I want, so that's fine. But the name of a library city is something I only get one chance to decide. I have no intention of giving up that naming right.
"Alexandria is—"
"I told you this was an emergency. We will have time to talk tonight, so do it then. I was planning to discuss your library city plan as well. Development cannot be done without blueprints, after all. It will be fine to decide the new territory's name then. More importantly, if we want to heal the land from the wasteland as much as possible, draw the teleportation circle."
Ferdinand waved me off, and although I was pushed aside, it would be fine if we could talk at night. I said "Gultrishite," took out The Book of Mestionora, and copied the teleportation circle out of it.
As voices of admiration rose around me, Ferdinand came close and asked in a low voice,
"Is it all right to use a divine relic?"
"I was a little careless... but I think it should be fine as long as we use mana to transport us."
"Idiot."
I was the one preparing the teleportation circle and pouring mana into it, but Ferdinand, who had been recognized as the aub by Arensbach's foundation, was the one who activated it. Ferdinand held a fairly large mana stone in his hand, took out his stave, and chanted, "Nenryusseru Bindebald."
Since we were transporting not only me and Ferdinand, but also our attendants, the dedicated chef, and food supplies, my mana dropped more than expected. That said, compared to my remaining mana capacity, it was only a tiny amount.
"It's empty and desolate without any sign of people."
The last time I came here, there had been the chorus of "Oh my!" from the knights of Dunkelfelger, along with banquets and ditter, but now all I could see was desolate land with very little greenery.
"I completely sealed it off and moved the laborers to nearby towns. It will stay this way until you appoint a new Gibe."
Since I couldn't appoint a new Gibe until the lord's council officially recognized me as aub, Bindebald's mansion remained closed. To be exact, it wasn't impossible to appoint one, but it would look like I was disregarding the new Zent, so apparently it was best not to.
"If you don't appoint someone soon, the commoners living in this land will have it rough too."
Without a noble to hold the prayer ceremony and harvest festival and collect taxes, the commoners can't pay their taxes. Even if there is no noble to manage things, if taxes aren't paid, it's the commoners who will be punished.