Temple Hierarchy



Temple Priests and Shrine Maidens are considered a distinct social group from nobility and commoners. The clergy of Yurgenschmidt fall into one of two broad categories: the noble-born blue priests, and the commoner-born gray priests.

Members of the temple are generally held in contempt by outsiders. Nobles view both blue priests and gray priests as commoners, while commoners view gray priests as unwanted orphans.

The Sovereign High Bishop (中央神殿長, chuuou shindenchou) is the highest authority in the Sovereignty temple, and consequently the highest religious authority in Yurgenschmidt as a whole. Among other duties, he or she is responsible for performing the Coming-of-Age ceremony at the graduation of nobles at the Royal Academy.

The High Bishop acts as the head of the temple for his or her duchy. All major decisions require his or her approval. This position can only be held by a blue priest or shrine maiden. Alternatively, a noble may be appointed to the role at the discretion of the ruling archduke.

The High Bishop's duties include, but are not limited to:


 * Conducting religious ceremonies
 * Safe-keeping the bible and bible key
 * Manage the restricted books
 * Manage the chalices used in the Spring Prayer
 * Organise the home visits after the Harvest Festival
 * Deciding which Blue Priest is sent to perform a noble's baptism at their home.

While not technically a duty, it is tradition for the High Bishop to personally perform the baptisms for members of the archducal family.

According to Eglantine, it was once tradition for a child of the archduke to hold the post of High Bishop and all the archduke's children would participate in the spreading of mana throughout the duchies in spring.

Known High Bishops include Bezewanst (former High Bishop of the Ehrenfest temple) and Rozemyne (current).

The High Priest acts as the head administrator of the temple and does most of the day-to-day routine work. This position can only be held by a blue priest or shrine maiden. Alternatively, a noble may be appointed to the position at the discretion of the ruling archduke.

The High Priest's duties include, but are not limited to:


 * Overseeing the temple's budget.
 * Overseeing the temple's inventory.
 * Managing the temple's official correspondence.
 * Handling the assignment of grey priests as attendants.
 * Handling the sale of grey priests.

Known High Priests include Ferdinand, current High Priest at the Ehrenfest temple.

The orphanage director is in charge of overseeing the orphanage. For this purpose the orphanage has two sets of chambers, one for men and one for women above the respective wing of the orphanage, for the director to live in.

They are assigned a budget by the High Priest with which they are supposed to cloth and take care of the orphans. Food expanses are not traditionally part of this budget, because of how food is handled in the temple by being made for the Blue Priest and the leftovers tickling down the hierarchy as "Divine Gifts".

The living conditions of the orphanage can change drastically depending on the person entrusted with managing it. For example, the Ehrenfest temple orphanage suffered a great deal under the directorship of Sister Margaret, who embezzled the orphanage's budget for personal use. By contrast, Myne allocated the orphanage's budget carefully and sought out additional streams of revenue to provide for the orphans' food, clothing, and winter preparations.

Known orphanage directors include Margaret (former director of the Ehrenfest orphanage), Myne (former director of the Ehrenfest orphanage), and Rozemyne (current).



Blue priests and shrine maidens (青色神官や巫女, aoiro shinkan ya miko) are clergy who were originally born into noble families. Most of them are sent to the temple at a young age due to having insufficient mana to support their family's standing in noble society. They typically have not attended the Royal Academy and are not considered nobles. On the rare occasion a noble becomes a blue priest voluntarily, he or she renounces his or her noble status and becomes a a commoner.

It is extremely rare (perhaps unprecedented) for a commoner to be admitted to the temple as a blue priest or priestess. The only known instance of this is Myne's acceptance as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, made possible by her unusually high mana and personal wealth combined with the temple's dire shortage of both mana and funding.

Known duties of blue priests and shrine maidens include:


 * Dedicating mana during the Dedication Ritual.
 * Perform religious services outside the capital at the Harvest Festival in their assigned provinces.
 * Perform the Spring Prayer in their assigned provinces.
 * Go to noble's mansions to perform baptisms, if selected.
 * Assist the Knight's Order by performing the Healing Ritual after a successful trombe extermination.

Known blue priests and shrine maidens at the Ehrenfest temple include:


 * Christine (Former - recalled to noble society)
 * Egmont
 * Ferdinand (Former - recalled to noble society)
 * Frietack
 * Margaret (Deceased)
 * Myne (Former - Deceased)
 * Kampfer
 * Shikikoza (Former - recalled to noble society)



Gray priests and shrine maidens (灰色神官や巫女, haiiro shinkan ya miko) are typically born as commoners near the temple. When they are orphaned or abandoned by their parents, they are accepted into the temple orphanage where they train to become servants to the nobility. (Some gray priests and priestesses are the unwanted children born to the concubines of blue priests and nobles; however, they are still considered commoners.)

Regardless of their standing within the temple, gray priests live in forced servitude for their entire lives. They can be bought and sold by nobles to serve as servants or concubines, and they do not have any control over their careers or futures.

Due to growing up in the temple, most gray priests have only a limited understanding of how outside society works. Because food and supplies are shared equally and service is obligatory, most gray priests don't understand the concepts of money, property, compensation, or paid work. They are also unfamiliar with the concepts of family, marriage, and relationships.

Gray priests and shrine maidens primarily serve as attendants (側仕え,sobadzukae) to blue priests in the temple. (Despite having the same name and similar duties, this job is not the same as that of a noble attendant.)

Their duties are whatever their master or mistress asks of them and can include anything from physical labour to performing music and painting. They can even be ordered to give sexual favours to their masters or their guests, which is refered to as "offering flowers" in noble society.

The attendents live in rooms adjacent to their master's chambers so they can always be nearby should their services be required. When a Blue Priest or Shrine Maiden dies or leaves the temple, their attendants return to the orphanage to serve as regular gray priests.

Due to the varity of tasks different masters might expect of their attendants, there is no unified attendant training. Instead individual training tailored toward the needs and wants of the master are given either by the master themselves or more often by their othe attendants.

Gray priests who have not been chosen as attendants live in the orphanage, regardless of their age. Their duties comprise mainly the cleaning of the entire temple, except the chambers of the Blue Priests, which are taken care of by their respective attendants.

Part of the education received by apprentice grey priests is a general foundation for serving nobles, which includes among other things the meaning and correct use of proper manners and Noble Euphemisms.

Unbaptised orphans are not officially recognized as humans by the temple and thus technically have no rights or responsibilities until their baptism, upon which they are recognized as individuals and become apprentice grey priests. Until then, they are strictly forbidden to leave the orphanage without the express permisison of the orphanage director.


 * In the anime the position of temple leader (High Bishop in LN) is called High Priest.
 * In the anime the position of temple head administrator (High Priest in LN) is called Head Priest.
 * "Divine Gifts" are called "Alms of the Gods" in the anime.