The Dormitory's Structure and Features

“It is rather troublesome that attendants must be dismissed whenever matters involving the gods are discussed. Serving refreshments and recording our lady’s conversations are supposed to be the work of her retainers…”

We had no choice but to wait until Milady and Lady Rozemyne finished speaking. After preparing the tea in Alexandria’s tea room, we moved behind a folding screen. An apprentice guard knight stood at the gap in the screen to keep watch for any danger, but most of the retainers present had no work left to do. All we could do was exchange information among ourselves.

“Lady Cordula, since we have this opportunity, may I ask you something?”

When Lady Lieseleta, Lady Rosemyne’s head attendant, addressed me, I readily agreed. When the goddess descended upon Lady Hannelore, her advice had helped me greatly, and I hoped this might serve as a small repayment.

“We are planning to rebuild Alexandria’s dormitory, but we are having a little trouble with the design. Greater duchies have so many students that an annex is absolutely necessary, is it not? Since we hail from Ehrenfest, that impression is very strong with us…”

Ehrenfest’s land size was that of a middle duchy, but its population was closer to a lesser one. Compared to Alexandria, the difference in numbers was considerable. Naturally, it could not be designed in the same way.

“Are you currently using Old Ahrensbach’s dormitory as it is? Would that not serve as an ideal reference?”

“Well… in Old Ahrensbach, it seems they added on new sections only as the population increased, and it isn’t very practical to use. Right now, the entire annex that the Old Werkestock students resided in isn’t being used, and the dining hall is awkwardly split into two.”

In Old Ahrensbach’s dormitory, not everyone could fit into a single dining hall, so the lower-ranking nobles had been made to use a separate one. Even after the number of Old Werkestock nobles decreased, there were still about ten seats too few, so everyone could not be accommodated in one dining hall. The lower-ranking nobles were still using the separate one.

“Both dining halls have awkward, empty seats, and the servants carrying food from the kitchen seem to have a hard time moving around. There is also no singular location where all the students of the dormitory can gather together. Lady Rozemyne wishes to improve the situation as soon as possible.”

“That certainly does sound inconvenient.”

Important announcements were often conveyed during dinner when all students typically gathered, but if it became difficult to know whether the information had reached everyone or not, that would indeed be a serious concern.

“May I ask how Dunkelfelger handled things when you accepted the nobles of Old Werkestock?”

I recalled the time we had been ordered to manage half of Old Werkestock, but it had not become a particularly troublesome situation.

“There were no special problems, a sudden increase or decrease in numbers is something that happens once every hundred years or so.”

”…Is that so?”

There had been times when a branch member of the archducal family split off and became an independent lesser duchy, and times when descendants who had once separated but then found themselves struggling to govern a lesser duchy in the same manner as Dunkelfelger wished to merge back again.

Because Old Werkestock had been forced upon us to manage after the purge, and because the Grutrissheit had been lost in the war, it was believed that further changes were unlikely.

However, the Grutrissheit had once again been granted to the Zent.

Most likely, once the effects of the civil war have settled—perhaps a hundred years from now—the borders of the duchies would begin to shift again.

“Within Dunkelfelger, we rebuilt dormitories or the castle not because of changes in population, but when we needed to install large magic tools. Still, the fundamental structure hasn’t changed very much.”

“Is it therefore better not to change the fundamental structure too heavily?”

“Alexandria handed the nobles of Old Werkestock over to Blumenfeld. Considering that its internal layout is now completely exposed, I also believe it would be best to strengthen the defenses quickly and rebuild. It is a new duchy now. If Old Arensbach’s layout has any useful features, those may indeed be incorporated, but Alexandria should reshape itself into whatever form it deems best.”

“So strengthening defenses and rebuilding really are necessary.”

“indeed. The routes used for evacuation, the locations where defensive magic tools are set, the positions of the armory and material stores, the patrol routes and night watches, and even the hidden passages are all likely known, are they not?”

”…That may be true. Lord Ferdinand mentioned that having the teleportation hall in the annex would cause trouble in an emergency…”

Lady Lieseleta herself likely wasn’t well-versed in defensive matters. Her expression looked somewhat uncertain.

“If that annex were seized, you would no longer be able to return to your duchy, no?”

“Dunkelfelger’s teleportation hall is in the main building, then?”

“It is in the main building, of course. It is right beside the room where those in charge of rear support gather during an emergency.”

In fact, during the incident that occurred at the end of spring, communication between the castle and the dormitory happened constantly. The short distance to the teleportation hall had been remarkably convenient. Serving as Milady’s head attendant for rear support, I had been impressed by how skillfully the rooms were arranged.

“There is a room in the dormitory specifically for rear support? It isn’t used under normal circumstances, is that right?”

“Normally, it serves as a large meeting room. Particularly during the time the students spend at the Royal Academy, it is used primarily around the period of the Inter-Duchy Tournament, but during the Archduke Conference, it is used quite frequently.”

As Lady Lieseleta said, it is not a room used in daily life. In other duchies, they likely appropriate a multipurpose hall or the dining hall for rear support. Still, having a dedicated room prepared with movement flow in mind is extraordinarily convenient.

“Come to think of it, Lady Rozemyne told me that Dunkelfelger’s dormitory has a training ground specifically for conducting ditter.”

”…Wouldn’t we be terribly inconvenienced during morning drills if we did not have a training ground?”

“Morning drills? Not for ditter training for the knights?”

Lady Lieseleta tilted her head in puzzlement. I knew there were differences between duchies, but I did not expect an Ehrenfest-born to find it strange.

“It is a place for regular training, not only for knights, but for all of the students. Does Alexandria not conduct combat training? If attendants and scholars never train at all, would that not be troublesome when the need arises?”

A noble must be able to fight to protect their duchy. Even scholars and attendants possess more strength than commoners due to their mana. Above all, there were reports that Lady Rozemyne took scholars with her when she went to the battlefield, so I naturally assumed scholars and attendants trained as a matter of course.

“Ah… yes. In Ehrenfest, the attendants in service of the archducal family were required to undergo combat training. But it was not daily, and we took turns while fulfilling our duties. Alexandria has not begun combat training yet. …It is necessary, of course, but right now studying the duchy-specific poisons takes priority.”

“Duchy-specific poisons?”

“Yes. Alexandria has plants, animals, and feybeasts that did not exist in Ehrenfest, and many contain poisons. We are studying which combinations are dangerous and so forth. Unlike when one relocates due to a normal marriage, the reliability of the information we can obtain is low, so there are many parts we must figure out through trial and error…”

“Suddenly moving to another duchy brings those kinds of problems as well, I see.”

Normally, marriages were done with the permission of both duchies. In marriages involving the archducal family, there was accumulated knowledge about the duchy’s poisons, and attendants were assigned to pass that knowledge on.

But in Alexandria, Lady Rozemyne had newly become the Archduchess. Lord Ferdinand had also apparently been poisoned in their Replenishment Hall, so it was impossible to trust the nobles of Old Ahrensbach. Since they did not know which nobles could be trusted, even confirming lethal doses and the proper countermeasures would have to wait until they verified things themselves.

“Even if there is accumulated knowledge, learning the details about the poisons in a duchy, memorizing the procedures for poison-testing, and acclimating one’s body takes a considerable amount of time. Having to relearn the poisons unique to another duchy must be very difficult.”

“Indeed. There are major differences between a middle duchy and a greater duchy, and for those of us from Ehrenfest, there is a great deal we find confusing. Hearing how Dunkelfelger handles things is extremely helpful.”

Having been asked by Lady Lieseleta herself, I thought about the structure of the dormitory. I could not reveal too many details, of course, but I could at least offer advice. If it was in return for the advice I had received when the goddess descended upon Lady Hannelore, I believed I could obtain permission from the Aub and from Lady Sieglinde as well.

“Regarding advice for rebuilding the Alexandrian dormitory, I heard the castle was newly rebuilt. Whose counsel did you receive at that time?”

“Lord Ferdinand created the architectural plans while listening to Lady Rozemyne’s opinions.”

“Then why can’t you entrust the dormitory to them as well?”

At my question, Lady Lieseleta suddenly looked into the distance. Something quite serious must have happened.

“Well… we are struggling with how to persuade Lady Rozemyne, who wants to place the book room at the very center of the dormitory. Surely the center should be where the dining hall or a multipurpose hall—spaces everyone uses—ought to go, should it not?”

“Considering convenience, I would prioritize the dining hall or the multipurpose hall over the bookroom. It isn’t unusual to place bookshelves in a multipurpose hall, but placing the book room itself at the center is quite rare indeed.”

“For the dormitory of Alexandria, which calls itself the Library City, Lady Rozemyne insists it is essential… Lord Ferdinand says it is premature, but Lady Rozemyne will not yield…”

According to Lieseleta, when they were designing the castle, Lady Rozemyne had been in her weakest period, so she had not pressed her demands strongly. But now, she was apparently asserting her wishes with full vigor, and Lieseleta said it was no easy task to reject the opinion of an Aub who loved books more than meals.

“At one point, she even stated she wanted to place the bookroom right next to the Aub’s personal chambers. Lord Ferdinand scolded her, saying that for security reasons they could not allow anyone to approach the Aub’s chambers so freely, and she finally gave up on the idea…”

…Such a childish notion…

Ah, but come to think of it, Lady Rozemyne once caused trouble for the royal family because she would not come out of the underground archive beneath the Royal Academy library.

“Books are valuable items, so there should be no issue with placing the book room somewhere the lady of the land can easily manage, should there? If you forbid others from entering and simply place more bookshelves inside the Aub’s private rooms, would that not be sufficient?”

“If only she would accept that, but it seems that for Lady Rozemyne, reading must be something everyone can enjoy. That is why she insists on placing the book room in the central area…”

It appeared that even though her appearance and position have changed, Lady Rozemyne’s personality and fixations have not changed at all. If anything, becoming an Aub seemed to have given her the strength to push her opinions through.

As I looked at the numerous bookshelves set up even in this tea room, I let out a quiet breath. Their duchy’s defining trait had already been asserted quite thoroughly. Was that not enough?

“It is true that the convictions of the first Aub became the duchy’s defining characteristics. But it is important to discuss thoroughly whether those characteristics truly need to be placed in the central area.”

“Ah, Dunkelfelger is a duchy that values martial strength, yet your training grounds are not located in the center of the dormitory. I will try using that example to persuade Lady Rozemyne to place it at the edge of the dormitory or in an annex instead of the center.”

Lady Lieseleta widened her eyes slightly as though suddenly realizing something, but that alone would be a weak justification. I, too, considered how we might persuade Lady Rozemyne together.

“It may be a good idea to make the book room serve as the base for the night watch, since you will need a place in an easy-to-monitor position near the back entrance.”

“A bookroom as the base for the night watch…?”

Lady Lieseleta looked as though the thought had never occurred to her.

“The bookroom will house expensive books, so the apprentice knights will take turns guarding it, correct? If you also make it the base for the night watch that keeps an eye on the dormitory’s back entrance, then even if a bookroom is built, I doubt the apprentices would complain.”

She said, “I believe that is a wonderful suggestion,” but to my eyes, Lady Lieseleta did not look entirely convinced.

“Um, Lady Cordula, may I ask something? In Dunkelfelger, are the apprentice knights the ones who perform the night watch?”

“Is that not obvious? Adult knights are only permitted to stay in the dormitory’s teleportation hall while at the Royal Academy. And it was Lady Rozemyne who made it known that apprentices must be trained for night watch duties, and that night patrols within the Academy are necessary.”

“What?”

Lady Lieseleta widened her eyes in surprise, but in Dunkelfelger, Lady Rozemyne’s influence truly was immense.

“Trouble always arrives without warning. After the incident at the end of spring, Dunkelfelger reviewed many things, realizing once again that constant preparation was necessary.”

I was referring to the events at the end of spring when Ehrenfest and Old Ahrensbach fought over their foundation, and Lanzaneve invaded the very heart of Yurgenschmidt. Dunkelfelger had been involved with both fronts, and that revealed many weak points within the duchy that needed to be re-examined.

Until then, a Zent holding the Grutrissheit had acted as a deterrent, and no duchy ever attempted to interfere with another’s foundation. A Zent could forcefully destroy a foundation, after all. With no way to know what would happen to their own duchy afterward, no one would ever dare to start a conflict over a foundation.

After the purge, Zent Trauerqual no longer held the Grutrissheit, but every duchy was far too busy managing its own affairs to consider seizing another’s foundation.

Even if one obtained another duchy’s foundation, they could not redraw the borders, so proper management would be impossible. At most, the nobles of losing duchies that had been turned into abandoned lands could launch minor raids.

However, Lady Rozemyne, as the avatar of the goddess, obtained the Grutrissheit and stole Ahrensbach’s foundation in the span of a single bell. It wasn’t only the archducal family who felt a chill upon hearing Lady Hannelore and the accompanying knights’ reports. If the Dunkelfelger of that time had faced the same situation—if the enemy had caused disturbances throughout the land without revealing they were targeting the foundation—the Aub would have led the knights to suppress the enemy, while Lord Lestilaut would have devoted his full strength to defending the castle. Rather than hiding in the foundation room to protect it, they would undoubtedly have taken the stance that the best defense was to attack and prevent anyone from approaching the foundation.

At that time, Lady Rozemyne, who had requested their cooperation, hinted that she possessed a method to steal another duchy’s foundation magic and that she carried the Grutrissheit. For that reason, the Aub recognized that protecting their own foundation magic had to take absolute priority. If he were to depart for the Sovereignty himself, he would need to appoint Lord Lestilaut officially as the next Aub and order him to remain holed up in the foundation room.

“Since someone who holds the Grutrissheit has appeared, we must not continue as before. The training conducted at the Royal Academy has been reviewed in many ways starting this year.”

“That is why you have night-patrol training?”

“Yes. In an emergency, one must know where to go, what to do, and who is responsible for which task. Training is necessary for that. Above all, they must maintain a sense of tension.”

During the battle in the Sovereignty—when the Aub led the knights to the Royal Academy—the apprentice knights’ lack of training had become painfully obvious.

In the past, when treasure-stealing ditter had been part of the Inter-duchy tournament at the Royal Academy, the apprentice knights used to take turns patrolling around the dormitory and the gathering sites to make sure no traps had been set, and everyone kept the seriousness of impending real combat in mind.

But after more than ten years of speed-focused ditter, it seemed that even if they trained, they were no longer able to stay conscious of actual battle.

While Lord Lestilaut remained confined in the foundation hall, his retainers guarded the archducal families’ residential wing. I heard that the younger ones, who were not accustomed to long hours of vigilance, struggled to maintain tension throughout the night.

“So, aside from training… is there anything Dunkelfelger particularly prioritizes when it comes to defense in their buildings?”

“As for the structure of the dormitory, it is important to decide in advance where we will intercept the enemy and how we will drive them into a corner. Near the place where we intend to intercept them, there is a storehouse of emergency supplies, such as offensive magic tools and healing potions.”

In Dunkelfelger, the creation of these emergency supplies was crest certified work from the Aub, and students troubled by finances made new supplies every year and replaced the stock. During the incident in spring, opening the emergency supply stores in the castle and the dormitory allowed the knights to move immediately. It made me fully realize how essential daily preparation was.

“In our dormitory, the buildings are divided between the archducal family and their branch families, the archnobles, the mednobles, and the laynobles. When an attack occurs, it has been decided that the archducal family will act together with the laynobles, and the archnobles with the mednobles.”

The archducal family and the laynobles protected the entrance hall connected to the central building and the tea party room, while the arch and the mednobles guarded the rear entrance used to go outside and the teleportation hall.

“As for anything else… on the first floor of the dormitory, there are no covered walkways connecting it to the other annexes. You must pass through the main building to enter or leave. There are walkways on the second and third floors, however.”

…Strictly speaking, the first floor of the archducal family’s annex is not connected to the main building at all, though.

The annex used by the archducal family and their branch families could only be entered and exited from the second floor of the main building. Since the first floor housed the armory and the storage rooms for materials, it was arranged so that attackers or people from other duchies could not easily enter.

“And also, perhaps another point of ingenuity is that there is deliberately no entrance to the rooftop. Many dormitories can use their rooftops as landing spaces for their high beasts, correct?”

“Ehrenfest had no rooftop, so I did not know that. What is the reason not to build one?”

“By reducing possible points of entry, it makes security somewhat easier. There are duchies like Hauchletzte that build a greenhouse on the rooftop, though.”

At my words, Lady Lieseleta nodded several times, then gave a small laugh. “It is Hauchletzte’s proud greenhouse, yet it seems dangerous from Dunkelfelger’s point of view, doesn’t it?”

“In the Royal Academy, where the snow piles up, they once boasted to me that you can hold a tea party while admiring beautiful flowers. They also said it was a shame they could not invite guests, since it was a place where people from other duchies could not enter.”

The rooftop greenhouse of the Hauchletzte dormitory was well known. Flowers grown in that greenhouse were sometimes used to decorate their tea parties, and it was said to feel as though it were always spring.

“Personally, I cannot help worrying—even though it is another duchy—that more entry points and more places where intruders can hide only make security harder. …In fact, during an old treasure-stealing ditter, someone once ‘lost their grip’ and dropped an attack magic tool on us.”

“Is that true!?”

“Yes. I personally find Drewanchel’s greenhouse more interesting than Hauchletzte’s. I heard it was used for researching medicinal herbs, treated as an annex rather than a rooftop space.”

It seemed to have been constructed specifically for medicinal herb research, and because the temperature and humidity were strictly regulated, tea parties could not be held there. I thought it far more beneficial than using mana and magic tools to grow flowers for tea parties.

“Drewanchel is more famous for the number of its brewing rooms than its greenhouse, isn’t it? I once heard a story about an apprentice scholar who was bad at growing herbs trying to sneak a pot of medicinal plants among the decorative plants in the tea room, hoping an apprentice attendant would take care of it.”

…An attendant would immediately notice a pot they didn’t recognize and become suspicious.

I raised my eyebrows slightly at her story. Seems that person underestimated the work of an attendant far too much. Perhaps it was precisely that carelessness that kept them from being able to grow medicinal herbs. As I let out a weary sigh, I remembered that Old Arensbach had been known for having one of the most flower-filled tea party rooms.

“Old Arensbach’s tea party room left the impression of having many flowers, but Alexandria’s does not seem nearly as decorated. The books Lady Rozemyne loves stand out far more.”

As I recalled Old Arensbach’s tea room, which had been filled with flowers as though trying to compete with Hauchletzte, Lady Lieseleta gave a wry smile.

“Lord Ferdinand said there was no need to put on unnecessary airs, so the flowers have been kept modest. As for the bookshelves, Lady Rozemyne desperately persuaded Lord Ferdinand to include them, saying that placing new books there would give people something to talk about at tea parties.”

It seemed that the Old Arensbach dormitory had no greenhouse; instead, they transferred large quantities of flowers from their warm duchy along with food supplies, decorating the tea party room — and those places visible to other duchies— as well as the spaces used by the archducal family with an abundance of them. Lord Ferdinand apparently reduced the number, saying there was no need for empty displays of grandeur, though even so, Alexandria still had more flowers than the colder duchies.

…Since Dunkelfelger was also a duchy with a warmer climate, perhaps we, too, could ask for more flowers to be sent from home.

Remembering my own duchy’s tea party room—where the strong emphasis on martial culture left it lacking somewhat in elegance—I quietly let out a sigh.

“Ah, the bell is ringing…”

“It seems their discussion has come to an end.”

Lady Rozemyne rang the bell to summon her retainers, and we—Lady Hannelore’s attendants—stepped out from behind the screen and returned to our lady’s side. The very moment we did, unbelievable words fell from Lady Rozemyne’s mouth.

“I believe Clarissa said that when she received the task for her marriage proposal, she pushed Hartmut down, kissed him, confirmed their mana compatibility, and verified that they could marry. If that is the Dunkelfelger way, then perhaps Lady Hannelore should try it as well?”

I was told that even though this was merely Clarissa’s personal rampage, it was nevertheless thought that in Dunkelfelger it was a common method of proposing marriage, and I felt dizzy. Milady insisted, “It was Clarissa acting on her own. Lady Rozemyne, this is a misunderstanding,” but how much would that claim be believed?

…For now, we should return and devise countermeasures. We would need to consult with our duchy as well.

While the retainers exchanged glances and hurried to prepare for departure, Milady put all her effort into trying to make Lady Rozemyne understand.

“Now that we know this was Clarissa’s rampage, that part is clear. But at the very least, with a kiss you can tell whether you’re compatible or not, no?”

”…What?”

”…Ah…”

An unbearably awkward atmosphere hung over us as we quickly left Alexandria’s tea room. I was curious about the relationship between Alexandria’s Aub and her fiancée, but I was even more concerned by Milady, whose expression had grown troubled as though she were deep in thought.

…Milady, I trust you understand, but please refrain from letting Clarissa or Lady Rozemyne influence you into doing anything strange and reckless.