Ditter and Dunkelfelger’s Demonstration

Ditter and Dunkelfelger’s Demonstration

Ditter and Dunkelfelger’s Demonstration

“Aub Ehrenfest,” the apprentice knights said, “we are up next!”

It was almost time for Ehrenfest to play ditter, so Sylvester and I got up from our table and went to the audience stands. Knights wearing Gilessenmeyer’s dark-brown capes were flying around, still partway through their match. I wondered what feybeast they were fighting—then I saw five yellow, spiky balls bounce around the arena.

“The heck are those?” Sylvester asked, glaring down at the arena.

“Taunadels...” I replied. “Those cursed things.”

They were fey creatures—well, feyfish—that reminded me a lot of a puffer fish or a sea urchin with a tail. I still clung to that bitter memory of not being able to eat any during the fish dissection due to their meat being full of poison.

“Isn’t this an easy win?” Sylvester asked. “They don’t seem very dangerous, especially in such a big arena.”

“Not at all,” I replied. “They shoot their long, thin, poisonous spines in all directions, so they’re very dangerous if you don’t know the right countermeasures.”

The apprentice knights watching the match all nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

“Those knights on the ground over there were taken out by the first attack,” I continued, pointing. “The others could stay far away and wait for the taunadels to suffocate without water, or they could surround them with shields of Wind until they’ve finished shooting all of their spines... but neither approach is a quick one.”

Our knights watched with stiff expressions as the Gilessenmeyer knights struggled with the taunadels; they really didn’t want to face an unfamiliar feybeast.

Leonore, who was in charge of operating intelligence, looked no less uneasy. “What will they summon for us? I never thought I would feel this tense about playing in the Interduchy Tournament...” she uttered. But before she could say much else—

“Gilessenmeyer, complete! Next up, Ehrenfest!”

In response to Rauffen’s booming voice, Ehrenfest’s apprentice knights climbed onto their highbeasts and went down to the bottom of the arena. They flew once around the perimeter of the grounds, their dark-yellow capes flapping behind them, before settling into place.

Gundolf stepped forward. It seemed we didn’t have Fraularm this year, which was good news. Given the screeching ordonnanz she had sent over earlier, I was sure she would have given us the worst feybeast she could imagine.

“I see we do not have Professor Fraularm this year,” I said. “That is quite a relief.”

Wilfried shook his head. “Nah, Professor Gundolf’s the scary one. He knows about all sorts of feybeasts.”

“Lord Wilfried is correct,” Ignaz agreed. “During our joint research, when he learned that paper can be made from feyplants, he began striving to learn as much about them as possible.”

Apparently, Ignaz had then needed to endure a round of very intense questioning about the feyplants found in Ehrenfest. He hadn’t been able to answer very well, which had earned him a very exasperated “Are you at all invested in this research?”

“Still, there sure are a lot of people watching this year,” Wilfried said.

I gazed around at the audience stands. As he said, there were loads more spectators than usual, and they seemed a lot more excited—likely because the rare feybeasts of minor species that had appeared thus far had produced continually unexpected results, and they couldn’t predict what was coming up next. Those from Dunkelfelger were so eager to see that they were all crammed right up against the barrier.

“Even for adult knights, there aren’t many chances to encounter feybeasts from other duchies—especially the less famous ones. They must be excited to see how these feybeasts they’ve never seen before are defeated.”

It was then that Gundolf activated the magic circle with his schtappe. It shone with an intensely bright light, then atop it appeared a huge, vibrant tree covered in plenty of rustling leaves.

“Is that a feyplant?”

“Of course. Professor Gundolf would be met with very sharp criticism if he produced a normal tree.”

But it wasn’t moving... nor was it screaming like an effon... nor did it seem able to suck up mana like a trombe. By all accounts, it appeared to be a plain old tree—not even a fantasy one like a ruelle.

Mm... I wonder if it’s going to sprout a face and start talking, because if not, this just looks like a normal tree.

At this rate, I was starting to question whether it was a feyplant at all.

“I’ve not seen this feyplant before,” I said. “What kind is it?”

In my quest to make new, interesting types of paper, I’d gone around Ehrenfest asking our giebes what feyplants lived in their provinces. My knowledge about the feyplants of other duchies was very limited, though. Concerned, I squinted at Leonore, who was positioned at the center of the apprentice knights. She would be able to recognize it, surely.

“Everyone but Judithe, form weapons for cutting branches—the same you use when hunting trombes!” Leonore called. “Archknights, start building up mana. In order! Alexis, make preparations!” She was clearly and very confidently shouting instructions, so she must have known what they were up against.

She transformed her schtappe into a halberd and, while filling it with mana, continued, “Judithe, at my signal, hit the gumka with the most powerful magic tool we have. As everyone knows, after it takes enough damage, it will extend the many branches hidden behind its leaves. The process will take only a few moments. In that time, cut as many branches as you can—but take care not to touch them. They have thorns that will make your limbs go completely numb.”

“Gumka”? Isn’t that the rubber tree? I’m sure Ferdinand told me about them once... They’re like trombes, but you can’t find them anywhere near Ehrenfest.

“Ignaz, Marianne,” I said, “since Gundolf produced a gumka, does that mean they come from Drewanchel? Or do they grow somewhere else, and he just happens to know about them? I would like to ask about obtaining some gumka bark...”

I’d thought they might have an answer, since they had been working with Gundolf, but neither of them knew.

“We will ask him when we can.”

If this weren’t a game feyplant made from Gundolf’s mana, I’d be shouting, “Focus on getting the bark!” right about now. Gaaahhh. I want rubberrr!

I gazed longingly at the gumka, contemplating all the wondrous things I could create if only we had rubber. But as I was lost in thought, Lieseleta rested a hand on my shoulder.

“Lady Rozemyne, you are leaning too far forward. And please take care not to appear too excited when you go to Professor Gundolf to obtain information. If you show as much interest as you are now, he will surely manage to steal much of our intelligence.”

She was right—there was a very real danger of that happening. But this was the first gumka I had ever seen, and it had stolen my heart.

“Please speak with Leonore before you ask Professor Gundolf,” Lieseleta continued. “She knows enough to have recalled its name and how to defeat it; I am sure she is familiar with where it grows.”

“Y-You’re right.”

I had only thought of asking Gundolf, since he had made the gumka, but Leonore surely knew where it grew as well. There was hope.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much, though,” Cornelius warned. “If we learn it’s a rare feyplant that can only be found in some other duchy, then you will need to give up on obtaining it. We would need to send a platoon to gather the resources you want, which is entirely unreasonable. You would not want a group of knights from another duchy coming into Ehrenfest, would you?”

I envisioned Dunkelfelger’s knights coming into our duchy to harvest some plant or another and swiftly agreed. That wasn’t something I ever wanted to happen.

“Perhaps we could trade for the resources, then?” I suggested, but Cornelius immediately shook his head.

“I cannot approve of that. I expect you would accept even the most unfavorable conditions to obtain what you desire.”

My other retainers all agreed. In their words, trading with other duchies was a lot more serious than matters contained within Ehrenfest.

I mean, when it comes to getting what you want, I think anything should go.

As everyone continued to chide me, I returned to watching the match with a bit of a resigned expression. The apprentice knights had already surrounded the gumka and were wielding the same halberds I had seen them use when hunting trombes. They were cautiously keeping their distance, since they didn’t know how far its branches would reach.

The apprentice archknights were still channeling mana into their weapons, which were shining even more brightly than before.

“Can anyone do that attack?” I asked.

“Yes. It only requires you to collect mana in your weapon and then unleash it, so anyone can manage it with a bit of practice. That said, the power of the attack changes dramatically based on your mana quantity and number of elements, so there is little point in a layknight or medknight using it—unless the medknight has about as much mana as an archknight, I guess.”

Since you were channeling basically all of your mana into a single attack, it was best to only use it when you knew you could take out the enemy in one blow or when you had people who could cover you while you chugged rejuvenation potions. Our knights had at their disposal the potions left over from the Dedication Ritual, so they would probably be fine.

“Judithe, aim for the leaves that are the most overgrown,” Leonore ordered. “Archknights, do you see where the trunk changes color near the top? At my command, attack that part in order!”

“Understood!”

Once everyone was prepared, Leonore swung down her arm and cried, “Judithe!”

“Hyah!”

From her sling, Judithe shot one of the magic tools left over from our game of ditter against Dunkelfelger. It disappeared into the rustling leaves and caused a tremendous explosion.

The gumka shook as if surprised, and a bunch of thin branches shot out from beneath its leaves. There were probably thirty to forty of them in total, each with the sharp thorns that Leonore had described at the tip.

“Hyah!”

“Graaah!”

The apprentice knights atop their highbeasts swung their halberds around, chopping away the thin branches one after another. This only lasted a few seconds, however, as the branches then retreated back behind the central mass of leaves, whereupon they started wiggling like tentacles and trying to grab the nearby apprentice knights. Out of nowhere, the tree had started to look a lot like a jellyfish.

And the fact that touching its “stingers” makes you go numb only reinforces the comparison! So gumka equals tree jellyfish. Very dangerous. I won’t forget that.

“The branches can’t be cut when they’re retracted!” Leonore shouted. “Fall back! I’ll attack next!”

Once the apprentice knights had retreated, she swung her halberd with a fierce war cry, launching an iridescent bow of mana straight toward the differently colored part of the gumka’s trunk.