Summer Coming-of-Age Ceremony and Autumn Baptism

After calculating the profits from the concert, we ended up with a net profit of twelve large golds, eight small golds, and six large silvers. It was incredible that after deducting all expenses, we had a net profit exceeding ten large gold coins. The High Priest really was amazing.

I deeply regretted that the sale of illustrations was banned. I even offered to pay a portion of the profits to be allowed to sell them, but I was firmly rejected with, “I am not in any financial troubles, I don’t need the money.”

The High Priest had other sources of income besides the budget allocated to blue priests in the temple. He got compensated for helping with Sylvester’s work and assisting the Knight’s Order. Additionally, he had the wealth that he had inherited from his deceased father, and he earned money whenever he designed or sold a new magic tool. So, a portion of the profits from selling illustrations was just a trivial amount to him.

…I wish I could say something like that just once. Ugh, curse you rich people!

“More importantly, the end of summer is approaching. Have you memorized the prayers for the coming-of-age ceremony? The baptism ceremony will follow soon after autumn begins.”

“I’ve memorized them. They are not much different from the ones used in the Starbind Ceremony, so it wasn’t too difficult.”

As the High Bishop, my duties included bestowing blessings and offering mana during rituals.

Normally, I would have other tasks such as approving the work done by other blue priests, dealing with nobles who came seeking flower offerings, negotiating with the families of blue priests for donations, and various other responsibilities. However, the High Priest handled most of these on my behalf.

At the very least, I had to properly perform the blessings.

“The nobles baptism ceremonies are conducted in each noble’s residence, just like yours took place at Karstedt’s mansion. Some nobles specifically requested your blessings as the new High Bishop, but we declined on your behalf. Delegate tasks that others can handle to the other blue priests. Focus on what you need to do.”

“Understood.”

Performing noble baptism ceremonies comes with monetary offerings. However, according to the High Priest, considering the time it would take and the connections between nobles, it wasn’t worth it.

It seemed the idea was to assign work to blue priests who needed the money. I was already busy with my workshop duties, so I had no objections.

“Also, if you don’t already have one, you should order a hairstick incorporating the divine color of autumn for the baptism ceremony. The budget for you is managed by Sylvester and entrusted to me and Rihyarda. Be sure to inform us before making any payments.”

“Yes!” I responded with an excited voice to the High Priest’s suggestion. Ordering a hair ornament meant I had an excuse to meet Tuuli.

I called for Lutz, who was in the workshop, and dashed into the hidden room.

“Lutz, Lutz. Call Tuuli for me, whether it’s today, tomorrow, or the day after.”

As I tried to leap towards Lutz, he stretched out his hand and stopped me just in time.

“Wait! Don’t jump on me! You’ll get ink on your expensive clothes!”

“Huh?!”

When I hastily stepped back and looked at Lutz, I saw ink stains all over him. No wonder he had dressed the same way he usually did when going to the forest. As he wiped his hands on his pants Lutz asked.

“Calling over Tuuli is fine, but what’s this all of a sudden?”

“I need to order a new hairstick. It has to incorporate the divine color of autumn for the autumn baptism ceremony. The High Priest said I could order it. Hehe, I get to see Tuuli.”

At my words, Lutz murmured, “An order for a product, huh… That might still be difficult.” It seemed that Tuuli hadn’t finished her training to be presentable to nobles. Even if she remembered the traditional noble greetings, she might slip up soon after.

“If Master Benno is with her, it might be okay. I’ll ask him just in case.”

“Please make sure to tell Benno that I strongly suggest it has to be Tuuli.”

Lutz agreed with a smile. Then, his expression darkened slightly.

“By the way, Fey’s little sister is having her baptism ceremony this autumn. You probably don’t remember each other well, but at least change your hairstyle a bit. I don’t want to be asked weird questions.”

“Got it.”

We didn’t have much interaction with the neighbors, and Myne’s funeral had already taken place. Given the distance between the altar and the participants, it shouldn’t be an issue. However, if by any chance I were discovered, the neighbors might be “silenced” by the High Priest. I didn’t want to think about such a terrifying possibility, so I needed to take precautions on my own.

“It’s a good thing that Zasha’s coming-of-age ceremony was in the spring. Even from a distance, my brothers would have noticed…”

Lutz’s oldest brother, Zasha, came of age during the spring ceremony that was conducted while the temple was without a High Bishop, as I was receiving my education in the Noble’s Quarter. If the ceremony had been held with me acting as the High Bishop, Lutz’s brothers would have realized it was me. After all, they said I was killed by nobles, but there wasn’t a body at the funeral, and soon after, a girl who looked exactly like me appeared as the archduke’s adopted daughter.

“The next one to come of age is Sieg, right? When will that be?”

“That’s in two years, so you should have grown a bit by then. We might be able to pass it off with, ‘That’s how Myne might have looked if she had lived.’… Do you even think you’ll grow?”

“Lutz, you meanie! I am growing a little!”

After arranging for Tuuli to be called and handing over the financial report documents, I took out my diptych and focused on it. I checked off the items I needed to discuss with Lutz as we went through them.

“Hey, Lutz. Should we start the orphanage’s winter preparations early again this year? I have to attend the harvest festival after all.”

“If you’re not making hide glue, which causes a stink, then it should be fine to do it after the harvest festival. We could ask Master Benno to include the orphanage’s preparations with those for the store.”

Honestly, I wanted more hide glue. However, it would be better if the Gilberta Company handled the preparations, as they had more personnel to guide us. Last year, both my family and Lutz’s family helped out, but we couldn’t rely on them every year.

“I’ll ask Benno to handle the orphanage’s winter preparations. The orphanage in Hasse also needs to prepare for winter. How is that going? Since there are fewer houses nearby, making hide glue shouldn’t be a problem there, right?”

“They’ve mostly brought in the daily essentials. They’re also bringing in food, firewood, materials for papermaking, and such. Ingo and his wife from the carpentry workshop are staying at the orphanage to work. I think it’s about time to take the gray priests and shrine maidens there to establish the infrastructure.”

We’d already selected the gray priests and shrine maidens to send to Hasse and were educating them in cooking and workshop management.

“My dad has also been called upon, and he’s heading to Hasse. Even with dedicated craftsmen and those from Hasse, it’s still not enough, so Master Benno is actively gathering more people for the woodworking and construction work.”

Due to the time taken to secure the initial funding, the monastery was being prepared in a hurry. Although the promised month had passed, we’d been able to buy some time by hinting at other recipes and extending the contracts with the cooks.

“Let me know when the day is set for moving the gray priests.”

Since we were doing this anyway, it might have been a good opportunity to showcase Lessy and transport the gray priests with it. When I asked the High Priest, he said, “I can’t allow it because it would be unpleasant for those forced to endure riding it.”

What a harsh thing to say, even though my driving has become quite stable.

Two days later, Tuuli arrived with Benno and Lutz. Benno greeted us on behalf of the group, and then, including both Gil and Damuel, we quickly moved into the hidden room.

Once inside, Benno cast a stern, educator-like gaze at Tuuli.

“Tuuli, nobody’s gonna criticize you for loosening up a bit in this room, but you need to stay polite. You’ve gotta learn how to interact with nobles somewhere, so consider this a place where you can mess up a little without consequence.”

“Right.”

Tuuli nodded seriously. Although her manners and speech had significantly improved over the past season, she still wasn’t quite good enough to safely interact with most nobles as a professional craftswoman. Even Lutz hadn’t met the necessary standards yet, which is why he couldn’t visit the Noble’s Quarter.

“Rozemyne, if you want to keep having Tuuli deliver your hair stick orders, then help her learn while she’s here. She’s not presentable to the public at all yet.”

“Understood.”

I nodded firmly and faced Tuuli and the others across the table. Tuuli took out several hair stick’s from a wooden box and arranged them on the table. I reached out to stop her.

“You mustn’t rush, Tuuli. Relax and take all the time you need. In fact, allow me to demonstrate how it should be done. Watch carefully, for I have been taught by experienced archnoble wives.”

I demonstrated the refined movements that my mother had drilled into me before my baptism ceremony. I carefully opened the lid, removed the contents with both hands, and unfolded the cloth, paying attention to every detail of my finger movements.

“What do you think?” I asked.

Lutz muttered something. While Benno expressed his admiration.

“You sure do look like an archnoble when you do that. Gotta say, I’m amazed you’ve learned that much in such a short space of time. Even if you have good teachers, you don’t get that skilled without a lot of hard work. I figure you two can already guess this on your own, but fixing your movements up like that after you’ve grown up doing something else isn’t easy.”

“I was quite desperate to learn since the High Priest had offered me the keys to the book room as a reward,”

I answered with a smile, and everyone chuckled softly.

Tuuli tried to mimic my movements, carefully taking out the hair sticks. A colorful array of flowers spread across the table.

“Lady Rozemyne, if you desire a ceremonial hair stick, then I would suggest one that uses larger and more extravagant flowers,” Tuuli repeated Benno’s words. It’s rare for her to have such a hands-on teaching opportunity. Both Lutz and Gil, like Tuuli, were watching intently.

“A valid perspective. I prefer flowers that are closer to this size, but I certainly would like their petals to move like they did on the last hair stick.”

“I am glad to hear that you liked it. In that case, we shall make flowers of this size in the divine color of autumn.”

We decided to make the center of the flower a dark yellow and the petals a light yellow, but I was unsure about the other decorations.

“And what about the other flowers, Lady Rozemyne? What color would you like for those?” Benno asked, referring to the smaller flowers on the hair stick.

“Given that this is an autumn hair stick, I believe it would be cute for there to be fruit decorations alongside the flowers. Please design an ornament that is reminiscent of a bountiful autumn forest.”

“A bountiful autumn forest, understood. I’ll think about it.”

Tuuli was using my old diptych. Her handwriting was still clumsy and hard to read for anyone but herself, but she was undoubtedly improving.

“Not even vast stores of wealth can guarantee one the opportunity to learn how to behave like a noble. The experience that these young ones have gained today is priceless; I am sure this will help them enormously in their growth. Lady Rozemyne, I offer you my thanks from the bottom of my heart.”

Despite being in the hidden room, Benno gave a formal bow. Lutz and Tuuli followed suit, imitating his gesture.

While working on the text for the third volume of my picture books, this volume being about the Fire God and his subordinates, the day of the summer coming-of-age ceremony arrived.

The procedures for the coming-of-age ceremony were not much different from the Starbind Ceremony. Once called, the High Bishop entered the chapel, spoke about Leidenschaft, patron god of summer, offered prayers to the gods, and gave a blessing. As long as one could memorize the prayer, it was manageable.

After being dressed in my ceremonial robes and adorned with accessories of summer’s divine colors, I headed to the chapel. Walking carefully so as to not step on the hem of my robes, I stood in front of the doors, still feeling slightly irritated at the long hem that kept getting in my way.

“The High Bishop is entering the room.”

The doors opened at the High Priest’s voice. The blue priests standing in front of the altar waved ceremonial rods, creating a sound that filled the room like countless bells ringing.

Carrying the large and heavy bible, I proceeded slowly through the room.

To my right were the blue priests, and to my left were the new adults. Even though a magic tool to suppress voices was being used, I could still hear whispers like, “Is that the rumored tiny High Bishop?” and “Won’t she get crushed by that book?”

I handed the bible to the High Priest at the podium and carefully lifted my hem to ascend the steps.

The new adults were dressed in formal attire that could also be worn for weddings. Everyone was wearing the divine color of the season, so the chapel room was a sea of blue.

The High Priest began to recite a biblical tale in his resonant voice, just like during the Starbind Ceremony. However, most people weren’t listening.

During the Starbind Ceremony, it had been possible to at least feel some enthusiasm from the couples starting their new life. At my baptism ceremony, everyone had been serious, even if they hadn’t understood the myths, possibly due to it being their first time in the temple.

But those new adults, having already experienced a baptism ceremony and being seasoned as apprentices in society, mostly looked as if they were just waiting for it to end.

Maybe it was because I could now use my mana to bestow blessings or because I understood how mana supported our lives, but I felt a bit annoyed at their attitude. They should take a page from the ceremonies held in farming villages. I was there to give them blessings, despite my busy schedule.

“Now then, let us offer our prayers to the gods. Praise be to the gods!”

Even with this call, only a few offered proper prayers, while the rest were clearly doing it reluctantly. This lack of faith might need addressing. The temple was already seen as unhelpful by the people in the lower city, and now, with a child like me as the High Bishop, it felt like we were being taken even less seriously.

The High Priest said, “Now, we shall proceed to grant you the blessings of the gods.” and instructed the new adults to kneel.

I infused a small amount of mana into my ring.

“O Leidenschaft, God of Fire, hear my prayers. May you grace those who have newly come of age with your blessing. May those who offer their prayers and gratitude be blessed with your divine protection.”

A blue light rose, but it was much weaker compared to the Starbind Ceremony. The new adults, likely having heard about that ceremony, looked visibly disappointed, their mouths opening and closing in surprise.

“It seems quite different from the Starbind Ceremony,” I said, looking up at my own blessing, then glanced around at the new adults in the chapel.

“It seems your prayers did not reach Leidenshaft, the God of Fire. Did you pray sincerely?”

The room buzzed with a low murmur, loud enough to be noticeable even with the magic tool suppressing their voices. Seeing their shocked faces at not receiving a blessing, I spoke sternly.

“Pray earnestly to the gods. Continue to strive and grow. Pledge your growth and efforts and ask for their protection. Blessings are not given to those who do not pray.”

I could feel the High Priest glaring at me, but I deliberately ignored him and made them pray again.

“Praise be to the gods!”

This time, most of them had serious expressions as they offered their prayers. Satisfied, I infused my ring with mana once again.

“O Leidenschaft, God of Fire, hear my prayers. May you grace those who have newly come of age with your blessing. May those who offer their prayers and gratitude be blessed with your divine protection.”

This time, a noticeable difference could be seen as the blue light swirled upwards towards the ceiling, turning into a shower of light that rained down on them. The previously apathetic new adults’ expressions and attitudes changed dramatically. They looked excited and motivated.

“Do not forget to continue your efforts as you pledge yourselves to the gods.”

As the new adults exited, I saw my family gathered at the doorway. I only waved a small hand and made brief eye contact, but it was a precious moment. Kamil, cradled in Mom’s arms, had grown so much. I made a mental note to think of a new toy for him.

“Rozemyne, what were you thinking, doing something like that?”

Once all the new adults had left and the doors closed, the High Priest glared at me, looking furious.

“It was a little ‘demonstration’ to instill faith. If we don’t start changing the Commoners’ perception of the temple, it will cause problems in the future.”

In the future, I planned to open a temple school and establish educational facilities to increase literacy rates. If the temple was viewed with distrust, it would make my efforts much harder.

“At least consult me next time.”

“I will do my best.”

After the summer coming-of-age ceremony, autumn quickly followed. At the beginning of autumn, there would be a baptism ceremony.

Tuuli was due to bring the hairstick for the autumn baptism ceremony, accompanied by Benno and Lutz. To my surprise, my Mom was with them this time.

“Bwuh?!”

Seeing me cover my mouth and widen my eyes, Tuuli and Lutz smiled mischievously, as if their prank had succeeded.

“This is a craftswoman who assists Tuuli in making her hair stick’s. I have brought her here so that she could introduce herself,” said Benno, introducing my Mom as a hairstick craftswoman.

“The hair stick’s you make are my prized possessions. I would ask that you show me the new one in this neighboring room,” I said, leading them into the hidden room. As soon as the door closed, I glared at Lutz.

“You didn’t tell me she’d be here, Lutz! I was so surprised that I thought my heart was going to stop!”

“Don’t complain to me. Mrs. Effa asked to come along out of nowhere, and Mr. Gunther took a day off work to look after Kamil. Fey’s little sister has her baptism ceremony in autumn, so they won’t be able to drop by the temple to see you then. If you’re so unhappy about it, I just won’t bring her here again. How’s that sound?”

“I take it all back. I was just so surprised that I didn’t know what to say. Please bring her whenever you get the chance.”

I could speak informally with Lutz, but I wasn’t sure how far the contract magic allowed me to go with my family.

My Mom seemed to feel the same way. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, searching for the right words.

”…I am glad to see you well.”

My Mom had insisted on coming along with Lutz and Benno because the autumn baptism ceremony included Fey’s sister, meaning my family couldn’t come to the doorway. If we were seen communicating with each other, it would be completely obvious. It was unfortunate, but there was no helping it.

“Tuuli, present Lady Rozemyne with her hair stick,” Benno instructed.

“Yes,” Tuuli replied with a small nod and took out the hairstick with delicate practiced movements. She must have practiced the gestures I had taught her many times; her actions were much smoother and precise now.

“Lady Rozemyne, I present to you the new hair stick.”

The hairstick featured a large light-yellow flower, orange leaves, and cute red berries.

“Would you mind putting it on for me?” I asked, slightly turning my back to my Mom. With trembling hands, she inserted the hairstick into my hair. Her hand gently brushed my head as if to pat it.

Trying to hold back my tears, I kept my head down and asked, “Does it look good on me?”

“Yes, very. It looks… very good on you,” my Mom replied, her voice sounding tearful. I turned to look up at her and saw that her eyes were filled with tears, even though she was smiling.

With the hair stick that Mom and Tuuli had given me stuck in my hair, it was time for me to face the autumn baptism ceremony. During the summer coming of age ceremony, I had told the children that they needed to pray properly or otherwise they wouldn’t receive a blessing. It seemed that my instruction had since spread through town, as even kids as small as me were praying with serious looks on their faces.

I gave them a blessing while praising their faith on the inside, and the ceremony thus came to an end. But I couldn’t help but feel a bit down about not getting to see my family.