Chatting in the High Priest's Chambers

“Fran, you joined the High Priest’s retinue when the selection process was at its harshest, did you not?”

While we stood in the High Priest’s chambers without the High Priest, Lothar suddenly spoke up as if he had remembered something. Hearing that, Ymir leaned forward excitedly and asked when that was, eager for stories from before he had joined the High Priest’s retinue.

“It was when the blue priests and blue shrine maidens started to leave the temple in droves, and Lord Ferdinand became the High Priest. His workload had increased suddenly, so he started to swap out his attendants for those who were skilled in paperwork.”

It was around that time that Zahm, Gido, and I—along with Arno, who is no longer with us—were taken on as Lord Ferdinand’s attendants after we completed our training period and scored a passing mark. I can still vividly recall the time when those who didn’t make it were sent back to the orphanage one by one.

“The testing period was difficult indeed.”

“I spent every day in fear of being sent back to the orphanage.”

“I was so jealous of Lothar, as he had not needed to take the selection test.”

Lothar wore a displeased expression as I shared memories with Zahm and Gido, who had joined the same time as me.

“Given Lord Ferdinand’s habit of frequently changing attendants, I also dedicated my time to serving him the best I could, always wary of the possibility of being returned to the orphanage… Yet, his strictness in choosing attendants was well-founded.”

“Was it not simply because Lord Ferdinand dislikes incompetent people? Was there another reason?”

Ymir’s question was quite direct, but I found myself pondering the same thing, so I refrained from reprimanding him. I had also inferred that Lord Ferdinand implemented a trial period due to his aversion to incompetence. All eyes in the room turned to Lothar, who had been serving in the High Priest’s chambers from the start.

“Lord Ferdinand was cautious about accepting more attendants than the High Bishop. However, when he assumed the role of the High Priest, his workload unexpectedly surged. Consequently, he prioritized the ability to swiftly complete tasks, enabling him to delegate more work to each attendant. As you all know, he is particularly stringent with those who display incompetence, so the explanation you provided is not entirely inaccurate.”

When I recalled Lord Ferdinand’s icy and stern gaze, I couldn’t help but offer a wry smile in agreement.

“I did not find my trial period to be so excessively difficult…”

“During your time, Kurt, Lord Ferdinand wasn’t as time-pressed, and he had also become a lot kinder thanks to Lady Rozemyne’s influence. He was much stricter during my early days as his attendant.”

“Lady Rozemyne had only just joined as an apprentice blue shrine maiden during your time, Ymir, so Lord Ferdinand had a lot on his plate at the time.”

Ymir replaced me as an attendant when I was reassigned to serve an apprentice blue shrine maiden, and Kurt took over Arno’s position.

“He certainly gave off a different impression, even though not much time had passed between us being taken on as attendants.”

“Speaking of different impressions, I was genuinely surprised the first time I saw Lord Ferdinand laugh. Until then, I had only ever seen him remain expressionless, except for when he glared at someone with cold eyes and cut them off with a disappointed sigh.”

Lord Ferdinand had gotten into the habit of planning ahead for contingencies, given that despite numerous warnings, anything involving Lady Rozemyne tended to defy common sense. Yet, Lady Rozemyne’s rampages consistently triumphed. In his interactions with her, Lord Ferdinand would frequently find himself getting angry or wearing a wry smile, letting his true emotions come to the surface.

“Come to think of it, when I was feeling down about being slower than Lady Rozemyne at doing math, Lord Ferdinand didn’t show any sympathy.”

Lothar clapped his hands together in remembrance when he heard Ymir’s words.

“I remember he said to you, ‘Unlike her, you at least show promise in listening obediently to my orders.’ You certainly were quite depressed back then. How nostalgic.”

“It sounded so sarcastic to anyone else. Lothar, I was genuinely surprised when you explained that it was his attempt at cheering me up.”

That was so typical of Lord Ferdinand that I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Lady Rozemyne also had a hard time understanding Lord Ferdinand’s intentions, and so she would often get angry or depressed. There was a time when I caused trouble for those around me by failing to correctly understand his intentions as well. It is something that everyone goes through.”

I recalled when Lady Rozemyne had first entered the temple, and she had complained saying, “You gotta let your subordinates know what your intentions are,” and silently laughed to myself.