384 - Leonardo's Perspective - War God Herkeles's Rites
The amount of paper and ink needed ended up exceeding our initial estimates, but Nils took charge of procuring them. Nils is a boy who works at the Menhishumi Church studying to become a scholar, and he is also the son of a Lagarette merchant. Though securing supplies like that should not exactly be his forte, Nils somehow managed to obtain the suddenly increased quantities of paper and ink through an unbelievable string of luck. Is this the grand fortune that comes with being a Spirit's Favored Child? It makes me worry about Tina, who should have lost her spirit's blessing. Then again, I have never seen Tina land one stroke of luck after another, so perhaps this is simply the fortune Nils personally possesses. Not every Spirit's Favored Child is blessed with extraordinary luck, I suppose.
...If Tina were truly fortunate, she would not have lost both her parents before she even turned ten.
There really is not anything I can do to help with printing the guidebook, so I am leaving it to Nils and Rannvald. It weighs on my conscience quite a bit to leave everything to them, but I also knew that if I tried to lend a hand, I would only get in the way, so I made sure to at least compensate them generously for their labor. I feel bad for increasing the workload of the people working at the Menhishumi Church's printing workshop, but I hope they will use the extra pay to eat something delicious and keep up their strength.
...About all I can do is gather and organize information, and deploy the Black Knights.
As a reincarnator who can read Japanese, Tina is under Christoph's protection. Since Tina was taken, mobilizing the Black Knights for the search does not count as a private use of military force. Tina is my sister, but she is also a reincarnator under the king's protection. If someone under the king's protection is kidnapped, it is only natural for the Black Knights to move to retrieve them.
...Even something so obvious did not occur to me back then.
I tried to dump everything on Alfred and go searching for Tina myself. As a brother, maybe it was an unavoidable reaction, but as a knight entrusted with four fortresses, it was the wrong move. Once my head cooled a bit, I realized that much whether I liked it or not. Even if I had rushed out alone, retrieving Tina would have been nearly impossible. But as frustrating as it is, by steadily gathering information and deploying the Black Knights, a chance of reaching Tina emerges.
...I know that, but having nothing I can do is hard too.
About all I can do right now is keep the fortress running as usual. I cannot just up and leave the fortress on a moment's notice, so having to leave the painstaking investigation to the Black Knights is hard in its own way.
I read the reports Aaron has compiled and ask for verbal explanations on points that need clarification. My eyesight still has not returned, but I have been making liberal use of the mind I honed as a Silver-White Knight.
...Come to think of it, there are eight Silver-White Knights at the fortress now, are there not.
I, Alfred, and Alf all became Silver-White Knights the same year. Alfred, who is currently stationed at the fortress as Christoph's representative, has two Silver-White Knights as his royal guards. On top of that, two Silver-White Knights came as watchers for Rannvald, and Aaron is here too. This is a rather unusual situation. The fortress has more Silver-White Knights stationed here than any place except Christoph's own castle.
...Speaking of unusual situations, I was really taken aback when Rannvald-sama said he wanted to live in the residence.
Since I plan to go get Tina myself if we find out where she is, I need to leave a substitute at Grenore Fortress in the meantime. I intend to have him act as me for a while, so I understand he wants to observe my habits and mannerisms, but I feel like I am being watched with oddly warm eyes, and it is uncomfortable.
...He does seem to be enjoying himself quite a bit. He seems to get along well with Mirshe too.
Being watched with those warm eyes is uncomfortable, but Rannvald himself seems to be having a good time every day. Since leaving the capital after having it announced that he died of illness, he has apparently been living among the common people, and he does not have a shred of arrogance toward commoners. Even with Mirshe, who I bought as a servant, he treats her like a child who has come to learn manners until she comes of age, and occasionally teaches her things.
...She is quick to learn the work too.
It would have been enough just having him at the fortress as my replacement, but Rannvald started saying he would take over my work too. So I figured I would give it a try and handed over some of my paperwork, but he handled it without any trouble, which left me baffled. When he was a prince, Rannvald was sickly above all else, and while he had the basic education that commoners receive at the Menhishumi Church, reading, writing, and such, he should not have received the more advanced education needed to obtain a Royal Peerage. It is utterly baffling that Rannvald can flawlessly handle the work of a Black Knight, which requires scholarship beyond what the Menhishumi Church teaches, on paperwork at least, after just one explanation.
"...There is no need to find it so strange. Learning is something one can do anytime, anywhere, as long as one has the motivation."
When I inadvertently voiced my thoughts after seeing his perfectly organized documents, Rannvald answered me with a wry smile. He said that even after leaving the capital, there were opportunities to pursue more advanced learning.
"It is true that the Menhishumi Church does offer places where one can pursue learning beyond basic education, but..."
The education provided free of charge by the Menhishumi Church covers only reading, writing, a little arithmetic, and general knowledge like history and mythology within the scope of common sense. If one wants to study further, like Nils does, they have to pay tuition. In wealthy families, the parents pay the tuition. If the parents are opposed to studying, the person can leave home and work at the Menhishumi Church while paying their own tuition. Nils is the latter case. It is not my place to pry into another family's affairs, but the fact that Nils was already working at the Menhishumi Church when he met Tina probably means that is how it was.
"I did not receive a Royal Peerage education while I was a prince, but I have acquired equivalent learning outside, you know. You can rest assured and leave the paperwork to me."
Rannvald said he was skilled at writing, so I replied asking if that meant he was no good at anything else. Having never seen a royal without a Royal Peerage doing work, I simply could not imagine what a capable royal looked like.
"I have never actually managed a territory, you see. A territory is a living thing. You cannot handle it by just cramming knowledge from a desk."
That is precisely why the Royal Peerage education includes actually managing a real territory. The passing condition is not to greatly develop the territory, but to protect and stabilize the lives of its people. Due to weather and natural disasters, there is no such thing as absolute stability in the lives of the people. The noble lord uses their discretion to protect the people's lives, reducing taxes in famine years, or using tax revenue to dispatch Sedovara Church pharmacists to towns and villages when epidemics break out. In any case, it is not something you can truly master just by reading books at a desk.
"When it comes to territory management, you can rest easy leaving it to Alf. He is an experienced hand who has been entrusted with a territory for years now."
"It was part of the Royal Peerage education, was it not. Managing a territory."
"Speaking of Royal Peerage education... you are in a position to obtain a Royal Peerage right away, are you not. Your education as a Silver-White Knight is complete, and you have gained experience managing a stable territory by being entrusted with fortresses. By being entrusted with four fortresses simultaneously, you can also prove you have the skill to govern a larger territory."
"...I do not want Tina to run away from me, so I am not becoming Christoph-sama's adopted son."
The conversation was starting to go in a strange direction, so I cut it off. I know that one of the conditions for a Royal Peerage is 'several years of stable territory management,' but that has nothing to do with me being entrusted with fortresses. I fulfill a role similar to a noble lord by managing fortresses and knight orders, but I am not a member of the royal family to begin with. For me to obtain a Royal Peerage, I would need to become royalty, and I have no desire to take on troublesome status that Tina would likely hate. There were talks of adoption and marrying into the royal family as a princess's husband, but I turned them all down.
"So there was talk of you becoming big brother's adopted son."
"When the talk of becoming a princess's husband fell through, I did receive such an offer, but I declined."
Back then, I received adoption offers from Christoph and various other people in different positions, and I remember feeling honestly suffocated. I longed for a family, but what I wanted and what they would have given me were at odds. What I wanted was family, not a guardian.
...And my family is only my sister (Tina).
I should have blood-related younger siblings out there too, but I cannot find them, so there is nothing to be done.
Deciding that the paperwork seemed safe to entrust to him, I increased the documents I passed to Rannvald. Part of me wanted to leave all the desk work to him and do physical work myself, but Rannvald's main purpose is observing me, so as soon as I leave, he immediately leaves his desk too. To get work done efficiently, I have no choice but to gradually pass tasks to Rannvald.
...I can leave the paperwork to him, but the Recollection Festival and Divine King Festival rites are out of the question.
The rites performed on festival days carry the meaning of swearing oaths to the gods. I cannot have someone who is not even the second-in-command acting as priest, let alone the strongest person at the fortress. Having Rannvald at the fortress is meant to deceive human eyes, but I cannot do anything to deceive the eyes of the gods.
...Well, the Recollection Festival aside, the Divine King Festival was originally held only once every four years anyway. It will work out somehow.
I perform the rites at one of the four fortresses every year, but for the Black Knights stationed at each fortress, I only serve as priest once every four years. Additionally, my schedule has been somewhat irregular due to performing the Divine King Festival rites in the capital and prioritizing Lugmilama Fortress in years when there was war. Even if I have not attended a particular fortress's rites for two or three years, I can probably fool outside eyes.
I received word from Bart asking me to show my face at the residence once before the morning of the Divine King Festival, so I dropped by. Since he had said 'by the morning of the festival,' I showed up right at the crack of dawn on that day, so Mirshe, who came out to greet me alongside Bart, had a somewhat sleepy look on her face.
"I wanted to ask for your instructions on what to do about the hearth fire..."
"The hearth... right, the hearth on the night of the Divine King Festival."
Regarding the hearth on the night of the Divine King Festival, there is a fairy tale about children taken by spirits returning home. In our household, where Tina was actually taken by spirits, it is hardly as charming as a fairy tale. Moreover, Tina has never once returned to the hearth of this residence. She was taken by spirits three times. The first time, she appeared at the hearth of the distant Mandez Residence, and the other two times, she returned to the 'Spirit's Seat' in the capital. The first time, since it was the residence where I was staying, it was as if she had returned to me in a sense, but the other two times involved neither Tina's will nor mine. It was entirely on the spirits' terms.
"The one who took Tina this time is not a spirit, but a human..."
She was taken by humans, but if there is even a slight chance she might return using the power of spirits, it is probably better not to light the hearth. In that case, I should scatter a thin layer of ash on the hearth and leave a handprint.
"...There is no way to leave Tina's handprint. What about Mirshe's handprint?"
"Mirshe is a servant, so I had her leave a handprint on the hearth in the annex."
"Then let us have Mirshe leave a handprint on the living room hearth too. Tina might use it as a marker to come home."
I patted Mirshe's head with a 'I am counting on you' and returned to the fortress. Not spending the night of the Divine King Festival at the residence is no different from when Tina was here. As long as I am a Black Knight, I likely will not be spending it with her.
The War God Herkeles's rites, performed on the night marking the beginning of the new year, are conducted at an altar built in the fortress courtyard. In essence, it is a rite in which we swear to the War God Herkeles that we will not grow arrogant with the power we have gained in the new year, that we will discipline ourselves, and that we will swing our swords only to protect the people. Just as everyone dresses in costumes for the Recollection Festival, here too everyone wears costumes of their own. The thirteen of us, including myself who serves as priest, don ancient battle garb, and the rest also clothe themselves in archaic attire. Since we are imitating ancient clothing, the stitching is rough and the wind slips through the gaps, making it cold, but we get by by wearing furs over it. The cold of this rite only lasts at the beginning. After the lengthy oath to the War God Herkeles, we warm our bodies by performing a sword dance, and then a mock battle is held among the thirteen in armor. After that, strength contests begin, arm wrestling, grappling, anything goes, in which anyone can participate, and these include drinking competitions as well. In short, it is a festival where men proud of their strength compete in various ways to entertain the eyes of the War God Herkeles.
...Normally, after the oath, it is a rite of rowdy merrymaking.
But I do not feel like it this year. In terms of not being able to spend the night of the Divine King Festival with Tina, it is the same as every other year, but the fact that Tina is not at home weighs heavily on my heart. This year is the same as always, and yet it is decidedly not the same as always.
I take deep breaths to calm my surging emotions. This rite is also one in which we pray to the War God Herkeles to help us discipline ourselves in the new year. As the one serving as priest, I cannot afford to have a troubled heart.
Somehow calming my heart, I offer up the oath, then perform the sword dance. By the time the mock battle ends, the preparations for the banquet are complete.
...Arnold tried to voluntarily refrain from holding the banquet at Grenore without Tina, saying it would be improper.
The banquet after the rites, which everyone looks forward to every year, was at risk of being canceled this year. In the end, it was decided that the banquet would proceed as usual, since the entire event including the banquet is part of the War God Herkeles's rites, but some Black Knights still only participated in the oath and sword dance before returning to work, clearly uneasy about Tina's absence.
...Tina was well-liked by the Black Knights at the fortress.
After joining the banquet for a little while, I decided to return to the residence tonight as well. Since I cannot light a fire in the hearth where Tina might return, I prepared a wood-burning stove and set up camp in front of the living room hearth. The kotatsu Tina had made in the capital would have been an option for keeping warm, but it is in Tina's room. It is too much trouble to bring it down just for tonight, so I spent the evening still wearing my coat indoors.
...Kokumaro has recovered quite a bit too.
Since Mirshe, who takes care of him, returned to the annex, the black shiba (Kokumaro) was taken to the annex as well, but until a little while ago he was stationed by the hearth, waiting for Tina's return alongside me. The black shiba, who has recovered enough to stand on his own, is now starting to practice walking, though still unsteadily. It seems it will take time, but I am relieved that he seems likely to be running energetically around the yard again.
...At times I found them a nuisance, but when they are not here, I find myself missing them.
I have resented the spirits that whimsically take Tina away, but now here I am, waiting for that same mischief from the spirits. Hoping that the spirits might snatch Tina away from wherever she has been kidnapped and bring her back to the residence's hearth. I know it is an audacious thought on my part, but with no leads on Tina's whereabouts, all I can do now is wait in front of the hearth.
Since I inserted Giselle's perspective first, no miracle from the Divine King Festival will happen no matter how long we wait. I feel like this is the first time I have touched on the War God Herkeles's rites on the night of the Divine King Festival in passing. There was that time Kalisa explained it a little. Normally, prostitutes are also invited to the banquet, making it a rather naughty rite. Since there are establishments whose sales would drop if we canceled the banquet, holding it was unavoidable.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. First, since I am going to be hospitalized for two weeks, the next update will still be irregular.