Published: August 10, 2026
In the foundation room, surrounded on all sides by pure white walls with no windows, seven mana stones glowing in the noble color of the great god floated in the air. Each of the noble-colored mana stones gave off light, and sparkling particles like golden dust began to spill out. As a sign that Ferdinand's mana, which had begun to flow in the supply room, had reached the foundation, I drew the leather pouch full of gold dust closer to me.
"Now, shall we begin?"
This development was to renew the castle, the Noble District, and part of the temple and downtown where the commoners lived, just as we had discussed the other day.
Although everything had to be packed up and carried out, there were only five days until the development, so the nobles had apparently been in quite a frenzy. My room still had little luggage, so it was fine, but the area around the office had been extremely busy sorting things out.
Decorations and furniture were carried out from places that were rarely used, and carpets and tapestries were removed. It seemed that people here did not use carpets in the summer, so the attendants had apparently been saying things like, "Think of it as an early room makeover..."
If I wandered around, I would only get in the way of the large-scale cleanup, so Ferdinand had ordered me to study so that the development could proceed without problems. I was also made to practice touching the mana stones with a composed face, and to practice handling an adult Fischpiel to match my now larger body. I think it was terrible that he did not leave any time for reading.
But when I complained to Ferdinand, he said that after the development I could teach the civil officials Rosemine's decimal classification system before the books were brought into the newly built library, and that I could organize the library based on my preferences and ideas, so I obediently did things other than reading. I was always thinking about what to do with the library, so I wasn't very focused on Fischpiel practice and Rosina scolded me, but it couldn't be helped.
...The building itself is modeled after the reading room of The British Museum, you know. Heehee, hehe.
The new library to be built within the castle grounds is a huge circular library. It was designed based on The British Museum Reading Room, planned by Antonio Panizzi in 1852 and completed in 1857. Actually, my room will also be inside the library. When I retire as aub, I'm going to live in the library just like Solange. I've become very excited about old age.
The research building connected by a corridor seems to have been designed according to Ferdinand's tastes, but I don't know the details. Since Ferdinand had been discussing it with the civil officials, I suppose he made it to his liking. I'm only building it according to the plans.
I confirmed that the blueprints were within reach, shoved one hand into the leather pouch, and grabbed a handful of gold dust. If I stretched my arm straight out over the foundation and opened my hand, the gold dust would pour down in a stream. Watching that, I gripped my stave with my other hand. I transformed the stave into a stylo and first drew the symbol of the supreme deity in the air.
"I offer prayers and gratitude to the gods who created this world, and I wish for change in the world they created."
The gold dust in my hand floated up on its own, gathered at the tip of the stylo, and colored the magic circle I drew in gold. The glowing magic circle grew more complex in step with my hand's movements, getting larger and larger. The spinning magic circle completed itself above the foundation and shone brilliantly.
"In the name of my god of darkness, Schickzahtlachte, who absorbs all things..."
As I brought the stave down, the magic circle slowly descended toward the foundation. The magic circle touched the foundation. The foundation shone. I grabbed the blueprints.
"In the name of my goddess of light, Fairschprädige, who grants the power to create anew..."
When I opened my hand, the blueprints flew toward the magic circle as if blown by a strong wind, and blazed gold at its center.