Dinner was a grand barbecue, with the surrounding residents joining in.
"I do hope it suits your taste."
"The climate here is a little different from Ehrenfest, so the vegetables seem to be different varieties as well. There are some rare ones, and since the ingredients are of such good quality and freshness, simply grilling them and sprinkling on salt is delicious enough."
While Monica served me, I bit into what was apparently called a Lezouk vegetable. It looked like a peach, but the taste and way of eating it were more like zucchini.
Chewing away, I looked around. There was a designated seating area for nobles, but beyond that, people sat freely on logs that had been cut and laid on their sides, or on large stones, so I couldn't tell how everyone else was faring.
...Oh.
I spotted the Gray Priests, who normally ate by rank and shared everything equally, standing frozen in place with the plates they had brought from the
"Come now, eat up, eat up!"
"Y-yes..."
The locals kindly called out to them, but since these were priests who had always received food through equal distribution and had never served themselves, they simply didn't know what to do.
"Monica, would you call
"But who will serve you, Lady
"I have plenty on my plate right now. If you hurry, it will be fine."
"Very well."
Monica hurried off to fetch Lutz, who had staked out his spot in front of the grill and was progressively stuffing meat and vegetables into his mouth. Soon, Lutz arrived with Monica, looking slightly displeased.
"Lady Rozemyne, I heard you called for me..."
"Lutz, I'm sorry to bother you, but could you show
"Seriously!? ...Er, pardon me. I'll do as you say."
Having survived fierce food wars among his siblings, Lutz couldn't fathom people having perfectly good food in front of them and not reaching for it. Still, he knew about the Temple's peculiarities, so with a resigned shrug, he made his way over to where the Gray Priests were standing frozen.
"Hey, Gil. Eat up quick, or there won't be any left."
Saying that, Lutz grabbed food from the grill and plopped vegetables and meat onto Gil's plate.
"You can take it yourself and eat it like this, so eat up. These are Lady Rozemyne's orders."
Gil looked at his plate, looked at me, looked around at everyone else, and then began to eat. Seeing this, the other Gray Priests put the same amount of the same food on their own plates and started eating.
...Can the Gray Priests survive here?
I found myself worrying whether they could make it until the Harvest Festival.
At the same time, I noticed that
"Fran and Monica, please eat as well. If you don't eat with everyone else, you won't receive the blessings of the gods like you would at the Temple, you know?"
"But we cannot neglect our duties as attendants."
Giebe Ilgner and his family had no servants attending them either. They simply carried their own plates up to the grill and asked the residents to cook for them.
"I'll go get food myself as well—"
"No."
I was shot down flatly by both Fran and Monica, and my shoulders drooped.
"...Monica, at the very least, could you ask
"But who will serve you in the meantime, Lady Rozemyne?"
Monica asked me back with a perfectly serious face, and I was struck speechless. Serving me was more important than their own meals? I see. They were adorable in their dedication to their duties, but also rather troublesome attendants.
"I shall go tell him, Lady Rozemyne."
There, she joined the male residents in grilling meat and vegetables, tossing pieces into her own mouth while passing along my message to Hugo. I could also see her asking them to fill her own plate with various things.
"Is she really the same Lady Brigitte?"
Fran stared blankly, his expression one of shock at the difference from the guard knights he saw at the Temple.
"She's with her family. I think Brigitte, with her increased smile and relaxed demeanor, is far more wonderful than usual. But in Ehrenfest, she'd certainly be told her behavior isn't ladylike enough."
I paused there, then turned to Damuel, who was standing frozen with the same surprised expression as Fran.
"Damuel, you grew up in the Noble District of Ehrenfest your entire life. What do you think of the current Brigitte? Are you disappointed that she's acting un-noblelike?"
"I'm also surprised by this side of Brigitte that I've never seen before, but... well, she's... cute, I suppose."
Damuel scratched his cheek and slightly averted his gaze, then added in a small, hurried voice at the end.
"Is that so? Then I'll be sure to pass that along to Brigitte."
"Please don't!"
My kind offer was immediately rejected. I didn't particularly enjoy teasing Damuel, so I was happy to grant his request.
"Fine. I'll keep it a secret."
"Thank you very much."
Watching Damuel let out a sigh of relief, I could only smile wryly at how completely oblivious he was.
...Even without me saying anything, I'm sure their grinning, happy family would get the message across just fine.
The next day, I went on a wilderness excursion with a lively old man known among the Ilgner residents as the "knowledgeable grandpa."
I wore gathering clothes, carried a Magical Tool knife, and rode a Lesserbus—the perfect gathering outfit. Brigitte and Damuel wore light armor, dressed more casually than usual to be able to handle mountain walking.
"It's been so long, my heart is racing."
Brigitte, who was on leave again today, would be accompanying us. Apparently, before she entered the Knight Academy as a knight apprentice, she had gone mountain walking regularly.
Everyone else—Lutz, Gil, and the other Gray Priests—had switched into gathering mode, just as when they went into the forest, carrying baskets on their backs and holding knives.
"Oh my, so you need wood that's on the softer side, like Forin, with fine, long fibers..."
"Yes. And ideally, it should be young trees. Do you happen to know any?"
I rode my Lesserbus along the mountain path, listening to the old man as we walked. Brigitte led the way, with Damuel behind her. I walked with the old man, followed by Lutz, Gil, and the rest of the priests.
"Linfai, Siswila... those would become magic trees, but I think Nanceib and Aiphon would be the most suitable..."
"The old man's judgment is never wrong, Lady Rozemyne. Then, let's harvest Nanceib and Aiphon today."
The old man told me all about trees that didn't exist in Ehrenfest. There were many names I didn't know, and among them, at least four types immediately came to mind as soft or young trees suitable for papermaking.
Lutz and Gil frantically scribbled down the tree names and identification methods on writing boards.
"Nanceib and Aiphon are the magic trees that grow the most during this season, so we should encounter several today. As long as you know how to harvest them, even locals can cut them down easily."
Brigitte, walking at the front and humming a tune, also taught the priests about edible mushrooms and nuts, as well as those that were poisonous and inedible.
As we walked along, gathering what was edible as we went, the old man squinted and pointed at something.
"Look, Miss. There's a Nanceib over there."
In the direction the old man pointed, I could see a small shrub shorter than an adult's knee, plodding along.
It moved its roots like legs, shuffling forward slowly. The pace was leisurely—slow enough that I felt I could catch up if I chased after it. But the fundamental issue was that a tree was walking. If something could move on its own, I wouldn't call it a plant; I'd call it an animal.
"The tree is walking!?"
"It's looking for a tree to plant its seeds on. Nanceib wraps its roots around a large, nutrient-rich tree and plants its seeds inside the trunk. Then it absorbs all the nutrients from its host, breaks through the dead bark, and emerges anew."
Brigitte said it was "a parasitic tree that kills large trees" as she grabbed the Nanceib firmly. She cut away the squirming roots one by one with her knife and stuffed them into a burlap sack.
"It absorbs nutrients through these roots, so when you harvest Nanceib, don't forget to collect the roots."
"Yes."
The Gray Priests nodded at Brigitte's instructions.
"Miss, I can see a large tree that has withered and fallen over there. There should be many more Nanceib in this area. Shall I go ahead?"
"Please rest, Grandpa. I'll harvest them."
Brigitte grinned and dashed off, knife in hand.
"I'll do it too!"
"Lady Rozemyne!?"
"At that speed, even I should be able to harvest them. Let's go. It's a contest to see who can harvest the most!"
Spurred on by my enthusiasm, Lutz and Gil also drew their knives and ran off. I rode the Lesserbus.
"Found one!"
The small shrubs, plodding along as they did, were surprisingly conspicuous among the trees. I dismounted the Lesserbus and grabbed a Nanceib with a "Heave-ho!"
Brigitte had held it with one hand, but I couldn't manage with just one. Moreover, there seemed to be a trick to holding it—the roots thrashed about wildly, and I couldn't keep my grip.
"Whoa!"
I couldn't even reach for my knife. I dropped the Nanceib, and Damuel snatched it up.
"That was my Nanceib!"
Feeling like my prize catch had been stolen, I glared at him, and Damuel let out a sigh.
"...I'll hold it, so you cut off the roots, Lady Rozemyne."
"Leave it to me."
Pouring Magic Power into my Magical Tool knife, I sliced off the roots and stuffed the wriggling ones into the bag.
"Yes! I harvested one too, Damuel!"
"There are more over there. Let's go. Ah, please use the Lesserbus to move."
"Right!"
Working together with Damuel in this fashion, we had just harvested three Nanceib when I heard a strange song.
It was not the beautiful singing voice of a siren luring sailors to their doom—it was a thoroughly passionate, soulful... rock-ish song, or rather, a rhythmic shout. Was someone out here practicing their singing?
"...What is that?"
"I'm not sure, but I think we should avoid approaching an unknown location. Let's ask the old man first."
However, the singing was gradually getting louder. I was incredibly curious. I wanted to verify it so badly it was killing me. The growing volume also revealed that there wasn't just one voice—it was multiple.
"Damuel, could we just go take a quick look?"
"It sounds incredibly suspicious, so absolutely not."
Glared down by Damuel, I reluctantly went back to the old man. At his feet, a small mountain of ten Nanceib that Brigitte had harvested had accumulated.
When I told Brigitte, who was sipping water from her canteen, about the singing heard in the mountains, she told me, "It's a magic tree called Aiphon."
"They're just noisy, really—no great harm."
A single one sang relatively quietly, but if multiple Aiphon grew within earshot of each other, they would compete for volume, growing louder and louder. It made no sense.
"If there are multiple singing, we should harvest them. They're genuinely unpleasant."
While waiting for the other priests to gather so we could teach them how to harvest, the singing became loud enough to reach us here.
"That does sound loud, Miss."
"We should probably harvest them sooner rather than later. Let's go."
We all headed toward the source of the singing. I was the only one riding a Lesserbus. Still, unlike before, I wasn't left behind—I could move with everyone, and that made me happy. My dear Lesserbus truly was amazing.
Through the trees, accompanied by a wall of sound, came the rustling of leaves growing louder. The wind wasn't blowing particularly hard. When the volume reached a level where I'd want to cover my ears if I weren't riding, we arrived at the source.
"...Wow, they're really getting into it."
The rustling wasn't from the wind. The Aiphon were thrashing their branches around like they were headbanging while they sang. I could only stare, dumbfounded, at the trees moving and singing.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh... Aaaaaahhhhh!"
"Whoa!"
The sheer volume made me reflexively cover my ears. In my peripheral vision, I saw the Gray Priests hurriedly doing the same.
The sound was booming from what I had thought was a hole in the trunk. Because it was rhythmic, I had assumed it was singing, but it was more like it had a vague melody—there were no actual lyrics.
In the next instant, a different Aiphon responded, and thrashed about with a rustling of its own.
"Ooooh, oooooh, ooooooh!"
"Eeeek!"
It seemed there were several Aiphon in relatively close proximity, because from every direction came aggressive self-assertion in the form of singing: "Whoa, whoa, yay!"
This was extremely annoying. Noise could absolutely be considered a pollutant. The claim that Aiphon were harmless magic trees was, in my opinion, completely wrong.
"Lady Rozemyne, can this be used to make paper?"
At Brigitte's cautious question, I looked up at an Aiphon even larger than she was and shook my head.
"I don't think the big ones can be used as paper material—they've grown too much. The smaller ones over there look like they could work."
"Then let's aim for the magic stones in the big ones. Damuel, could you handle that one? I'll harvest this one."
"Understood."
The two of them drew their Staves and transformed them. They became halberds that looked like a combination of axe, spear, and pike—similar to what I'd seen during the Trombe subjugation. Unlike then, they lacked the blessing of the Darkness God, so they weren't black, but...
"I call upon the blessings of the Fire God
At my words of blessing, the ring began to glow blue. Light erupted from the ring's magic stone and rained down upon the two of them.
Damuel re-gripped his halberd firmly, staring down the Aiphon, while Brigitte scanned the surroundings with her amethyst eyes.
"Priests, fall back!"
Few people get to witness knights in battle. This was partly because the shockwave of their Magic Power affected the surroundings. For those without Magic Power to be present at a knight's battlefield was genuinely dangerous.
"I'll protect us with a Wind Shield. You two, fight without worrying about us."
"Understood, Lady Rozemyne."
Seeing them nod, I immediately turned to Gil and Lutz, who had gathered around me.
"O Goddess of Wind who governs protection,
With a crisp, resonant sound, an amber dome enveloped us all.
"What is this!?"
"...Is this Schutzaria's Shield?"
"I'd heard about it from Fran, but this is the first time I've actually seen it."
The old man went weak in the knees at a situation completely beyond his comprehension. Lutz looked upward in astonishment, and Gil's eyes sparkled with excitement. I maintained the Wind Shield while keeping an eye on several Gray Priests attempting to help the old man to his feet.
"Damuel, the magic stone is inside the hole that makes the sound!"
Brigitte moved first, accustomed as she was to dealing with Aiphon. With a sharp cry, she swung her halberd in a wide arc and smashed it into the largest Aiphon.
With a tremendous explosion that sounded like Magic Power detonating, the Aiphon's hole was blown apart.
Simultaneously, shattered wood fragments scattered outward from the Aiphon, and a cloud of dust billowed up.
Nothing flew inside the Wind Shield, but everyone cried out "Whoa!" and "Eek!" raising their arms to shield their heads and faces.
Damuel, not to be outdone by Brigitte, gripped his halberd and charged at an Aiphon that was still thrashing its trunk and bellowing loudly. With a forceful shout, he brought the halberd crashing down.
The difference in Magic Power was apparent.
Unlike Brigitte's strike, there was no explosion—he merely carved a deep wound into the trunk.
"Damn it!"
Glaring bitterly at the result, Damuel slashed at the Aiphon two more times. On the third strike, the magic stone inside the trunk was exposed.
Damuel repositioned his halberd and thrust with the spear end, recovering the magic stone. The Aiphon's deafening noise dropped significantly.
"Today, gathering lumber takes time as well, and since Damuel was here, I had him use Magic Power as a quick method. But normally, the lumberjacks cut down even the large Aiphon with regular axes."
Apparently, they all stuffed their ears to block the noise, gathered together, and hacked it down.
"The smaller Aiphon should be easy for you to harvest too. Let's go."
Brigitte led Lutz, Gil, and the other Gray Priests off to gather the Aiphon. I stayed behind with the old man, who had gone weak in the knees and was sitting on the ground.
"I'm not getting any stronger at all. My Magic Power has increased a little, but..."
Damuel muttered dejectedly, looking down at the small magic stone recovered from the Aiphon.
I tilted my head and asked, "Damuel, are you trying to increase your attack power?"
"Well, obviously!"
"I always thought you were deliberately restraining your attack power to conserve Magic Power. So it wasn't intentional?"
I explained to Damuel, who was furrowing his brow.
"You've been limiting yourself to using the same amount of Magic Power as before. So even if your Magic Power has increased, your attack power naturally wouldn't go up, right?"
"...What?"
Damuel blinked, as though I had said something completely unexpected.
He hadn't realized? I placed my hand on my cheek and thought for a moment, then posed a question to Damuel.
"Here's a problem for you. Damuel has thirty Magic Power. If he uses five each time, he can attack six times. Recently, his Magic Power has gone up to thirty-five, so he can now attack seven times. But Damuel is troubled that his attack power hasn't increased. So—how can he raise his attack power?"
Hearing my question, Damuel looked at me with a sudden spark of understanding, glancing back and forth between the magic stone in his hand and me.
"Damuel, aren't you simply accustomed to fighting while holding back your Magic Power? From what I can see, you're skilled at using anywhere from one to five at a time, but you don't seem to know how to use twenty or thirty at once. From now on, why don't you try consciously using more Magic Power in a single attack?"
As a lower-ranking noble with limited Magic Power, whenever Damuel fought, there was always someone with more Magic Power beside him. Powerful enemies were taken down by those with greater reserves, while Damuel handled the smaller fry, stalled for time, or provided support. He had developed a habit of conserving Magic Power to fight for as long as possible.
If he consciously learned to use larger amounts of Magic Power in a single burst, his attack power would increase.
"I am truly grateful for this invaluable advice."
The dejected Damuel who had been hanging his head now wore a face brimming with determination as he placed the magic stone in his leather pouch. It was a relief to see he now had a clear goal.
"Lady Rozemyne, we gathered a lot!"
Gil returned, waving broadly. The baskets on the priests' backs were full.
"These are Degruva leaves that Lady Brigitte showed us. Apparently, if you soak them in water, they produce a sticky liquid. They might work as a substitute for Edil fruit."
Lutz showed me the leaves in his basket. There were so many plants here that didn't exist in Ehrenfest.
"I'm heading back to Ehrenfest tomorrow, but with this, it looks like we can start papermaking from tomorrow onward."
"Yes!"
I smiled and nodded at Gil and the others' loud response, and we began our descent from the mountain.
Brigitte led the way with the old man in tow, followed by Gray Priests helping to support him, then Gil and Lutz, and finally, at the rear, Damuel and me.
"Do your best, Lutz."
From atop my Lesserbus, I called out to Lutz in a small voice. Lutz looked at me and shrugged.
"You too—don't push yourself too hard. You can only gather medicine ingredients once a year, right? If you mess up, I won't be able to comfort you."
"Ugh... next time the Chief Priest will be there, so it'll be fine. I'll work hard so I can report that everything was collected when you come to pick me up."
"I'll... also work hard so that when you come to pick me up, I can report that we made new paper."
That evening, we hosted Hugo for dinner at Giebe Ilgner's house, and the following morning, we set out to return.
Those leaving were myself, Benno, Fran, Monica, Hugo, and the two guard knights. Everyone else would remain in Ilgner to focus on papermaking.
Many residents gathered to see us off. I addressed Giebe Ilgner, who knelt at the forefront as their representative.
"Ilgner has various types of wood that don't exist in Ehrenfest. If we can create new paper using materials unique to this place, it could become a local specialty. I ask for everyone's continued cooperation."
"Understood."
I turned to Brigitte, who was standing behind me with the solemn expression of a serious guard knight.
"Brigitte, say goodbye to your family. You'll be away from them again for a while. Farewells are important."
"Big Brother, Mother... everyone, I'm off."
"Brigitte, take care. Serve Lady Rozemyne well."
With everyone kneeling and crossing their arms before their chests in farewell, I started my Lesserbus.
Brigitte had thoroughly enjoyed her long-awaited return to her hometown.
And as for Damuel—might this give him a chance to grow a little more?
Next time: Summer Ingredient Gathering.