Schwartz and Weiss/Story

Upon registering for access to the library, Rozemyne was so overjoyed to finally be in a true library, that she started to spontaneously pray to Mestionora the Goddess of Wisdom without first cutting off the manaflow to her ring, resulting in a powerful blessing sweeping the entire room. Despite the wards that should prevent unauthorized mana from getting through to the two magic tools, this blessing ended up recharging them to the point where they became active again.

Since it was Rozemyne's mana that reactivated them, they recognize her as their current master and follow her every order to the best of their abilities. Rozemyne ordered them to aid Solange, intending to take a huge load off of the professor's shoulders, since she now no longer had to work the entire library on their own.

Unbeknownst to Rozemyne, Solange was the official master of the pair, so they would have followed her orders anyway, even without this instruction. Solange was nevertheless glad for Rozemyne making the attempt and didn't point out that this was unnecessary.

Schwartz and Weiss are currently a very popular topic among students and professors alike. While the professors marvel at the sophistication and speculate how they might have been created, the young students - particularly the female ones - gush over the cuteness of the two shumils. Since their reactivation, many students who up to that point only ever sent servants to retrieve materials from the library have since started to show up in person to "coincidally" catch a few glimpses of the pair.

Solange is convinced that the reason why the wards did not stop Rozemyne's mana was because the young girl is blessed by the Goddess of Wisdom. So far none of the professors she shared this theory with have agreed, leaving the true reason of how Rozemyne became their new master as much a mystery as their origin and creation process.

Due to how powerful and sophisticated the anti-theft wards on Schwartz and Weiss are, Solange felt taking them out of the library would not be a problem and suggested that Rozemyne should take the pair of magic tools to the Ehrenfest Dormitory for their measuring so it could happen in an area under Rozemyne's control. She also adviced her to only give her most trusted companions permission to touch them, explaining the details of what this permission entails.

When Rozemyne prepared to leave the library with them for Schwartz and Weiss's measuring, her taking the shumil's hands cause quite a stir among those present, since up until this point only Professor Solange and those few professors she talked to were aware of Rozemyne being their new master. Anyone other than Solange being able to touch them alone was noteworthy in itself, but Rozemyne taken them out of the library while surrounded by a large contingent of guards was outright shocking and by the time the measuring was done, rumors had circulated widely throughout the academy.

The measuring itself revealed several surprises to those present. While Professor Hirschur, unlike the Ehrenfest students, was not in the least surprised to see elaborate and complex magic circles on the torsos of Schwartz and Weiss, even she didn't appear to expect their current set of clothing to also have magic circles worked into their design.

Transcribing the magic cicles of the clothing was something in which the apprentice scholars were very helpful in, but even the best among them found that the formulae on the shumils themselves went beyond their ability to comprehend and thus had to be transcribed by Hirschur on her own. She found that the circles visible on the outside are not complete and thus postulated that at least part of the complete circles must have been put on the inside of the magic tools, rendering her unable to easily unravel how they function without dissecting them, which the wards will not allow her to do, even if she were to attempt it.

When Rozemyne went to return the pair to the library, Angelica informed them that a large number of students from other duches had taken up position to intercept them. Upon hearing about the possibility of combat, Schwartz and Weiss asked Rozemyne to charge their clothes with mana so they too could protect their master.

Between the Ehrenfest Dormitory and the library about 100 students under the leadership of Lestilaut the archuke candidate of Dunkelfelger blocked their way, accusing Rozemyne of stealing a royal heirloom and demanding she turn Schwartz and Weiss over to him. Upon learning that Ehrenfest had Professor Solange's permission for temporarily taking the two shumil out of the library and were on their way to return them, all the members of duchies other than Dunkelfelger abondoned Lestilaut, but Lestilaut himself would not relent and even went so far as to attack the Ehrenfest students, but Rozemyne's guard knights, reinforced by the knights of Wilfried were able to overpower them and force an opening, though which Rozemyne - being carried by Rihyarda managed to slip and hurry toward the library.

A number of Dunkelfelger nobles morphed their schtappes into bows and attacked Rozemyne directly, but Schwartz and Weiss's defensive enchantments turned their own attacks against them leading to them collapsing. Thankfully the fight was brought to an end by the arrival of Prince Anastasius, who had been informed by some of the students that had abondoned Lestilaut prior and were rightfully worried about the situation escalating.

At the prince's behest the supervisors of Ehrenfest and Dunkelfelger were summoned to try to resolve the issue. While Anastasius dismissed Lestilaut's accusaion of treasen against Rozemyne, Rauffen was able to convince Anastasius to put determin ownership of Schwartz and Weiss via a match of ditter, arguing that this contest would show which duchy was better capable of protecting the royal heirlooms. As a consession to Ehrenfest's presumed military inferiority, it was decided that Ehrenfest solely needed to defend the magic tools for a set timelimit, without needing to attack their opponent to win, as would be usual in a ditter match.

To everyone's surprise Lady Rozemyne chose to personally join the match, forcing Lord Lestilaut to do the same to keep face, despite how unusual it is for an archduke candidate and a first-year in particular to participate in ditter. Due to Dunkelfelger being the most successful duchy in ditter tournaments everyone expected them to easily win, but it was ultimately Ehrenfest that came out victorious, making Lestilaut begrudingly stand down.

After this incident the prince agreed to accept Rozemyne as Schwartz and Weiss's master, but to avoid political issues and misunderstandings, officially framing it in a way that she was only giving her assistance to Solange out of the goodness of her heart for the duration of her attendance of the academy, with the professor serving officially as the main master.

After the graduation ceremonies of Rozemyne's first year at the academy are over, she visits the library to charge up Schwartz and Weiss with mana and with the help of Ferdinand sets up a contract to lend Professor Solange two large feystone filled to the brim with her mana with which to keep the two magic tools charged in her absence. When Rozemyne notices how many of the places in the shelves are empty, Solange informs her that many students have not returned books they borrowed and that unfortunately she can't do anything about it since she can't even retrieve the information on the borrowers from Schwartz and Weiss on account of not being their primary master and that as a mere mednoble she would most likely be ignored by the majority of them anyway.

Hearing this Ferdinand encourages Rozemyne to retrief the list of offenders from the pair of shumils. Since the students are far more likely to be spurred into motion by the voice of an unknown man then the familiar voice of Solange or the childish voice of Rozemyne, he sends ordonnanzes with a harshly worded warning to the students, reminding them that all the books in the library are considered property of royalty and reminding them of the magic contract and vow to Mestionora that they would be breaking by not returning the books on time. As recompensation for his help, Rozemyne allows him to study the magic circles on Weiss in person, while she herself helps Professor Solange and Schwartz to handle the flood of students desperate to return their borrowed books before returning home to their respective duchies.

In Rozemyne's second year at the academy she accompanied the first-years when they registered at the library to recharge Schwartz and Weiss. To keep out of the way of Professor Solanges work and away from prying eyes, Rozemyne and the magic tools went to the second floor with only one of Rozemyne's guard-knights staying close to her, while the other guarded the stairs. There she recharged the two magic tools.

Following this the two shumil urged their lady to also pour mana into the book-like magic tool helps by Mestionora's statue, saying it was part of her job. Rozemyne obliged and was surprised with how quickly and how much mana was sucked out of her, but despite the large amount nothing seemed to change afterwards.

Schwartz and Weiss commented that "gramps" would be pleased. When asked for more details the pair is unable to provide any other name or information beyond saying that gramps is old and powerful. After this Rozemyne tasks the two magic tools to guide the new students around the library while he goes to talk with Solange.

To avoid any incidents like the previous year with Lestilaut, she and Solange decided to have the changing of clothes happen within the library during an afternoon, when most students would be in their respective lessons. While this succeeds in it's intended purpose of avoiding contact with other students, it also conincides with Prince Hildebrand visiting the library, who also chose this time for the same reason of minimizing the chance of running into any students.

Upon noticing the absence of Schwartz and Weiss he inquires with Professor Solange and learns that right at this moment the two magic tools are changed in a backroom of the library by Lady Rozemyne and some fellow Ehrenfest students. The prince himself does not wish to disturb anyone and thus offers to leave, but his retainers are very curious and insists on seeing this. Due to them being sovereignty archnobles Rozemyne sees no way to refuse them and reluctantly allows them in.

Once the magic tools have been stripped out of their old attire, the old clothes are handed over to the royal attendants, and cautioned against closing the buttons, since that would reactivate their defensive mechanisms, should any mana remain in the feystones.

After the changing is complete, the prince is so enraptured with the cuteness of the two shumils that he reaches out to touch one of them, before Rozemyne hastily shouted warning can register with him, resulting in Hildebrand receiving a mild shock due to not having permission to touch them. Once Rozemyne explains that only the master and those with the master's permission are able to touch the magic tools without the defensive enchantements being triggered, the royal retainers state that as a member of the royal family, Prince Hildebrand should be the master of the two shumil, rather than Rozemyne. To their surprise Rozemyne fully agrees, stating how much more convenient it would be if an actual member of the royal family were their master, but also explains the downsides, like the need to prepare a new set of clothes for them, the amount of mana that must be provided and how they will refer to their primary master only as "milady", regardless of whether their master's gender.

The royal retainers balk at the effort, time and ressources required for a new set of clothes, as well as worrying how moving such a large amount of mana at such a young age might affect his growth, while the prince is very much opposed to being called milady. As an alternative Rozemyne suggests for the prince to become a secondary master and after confirming that he has the necessary affinities for light and darkness, he is established as such, much to his delight.

From this point onward the prince visits the shumil daily to stroke them and in the process also give them more mana. It is during one such visits that Rozemyne comes to inform Professor Solange that she has settle for a date for her tea-party with Lady Hannelore four days later. Overhearing this Hildebrand inquires whether he should stay away from the library on that day to not inconvenience them, but seeing as how part of the tea-party is to make Hannelore into a secondary master for the magic tools, Solange suggests to invite the prince as well, which Rozemyne does. Hildebrand happily accepts the invitation.

At the tea party a few days later Hannelore is registered as a secondary master to the library magic tools and receives a matching library commitee armband from Rozemyne. Prince Hildebrand also considers himself a member of the commitee and thus happily accepts Rozemyne's offer to have an armband made for him as well, after they both check with their respective attendants to make sure this is acceptable. The prince also promises to talk with his father about the possibility of sending more personell to the library and will seek the king's permission to send out ordonnanzes at the end of the semester to any student who didn't return borrowed books to the library.

In no small part due to suspicions that Rozemyne and Ferdinand have designs for the throne, the royal family decides to sent an archnoble to the royal academy to take over mastership of Schwartz and Weiss from Rozemyne and evaluate how she reacts to this. When right after the beginning of her third year at the academy she receives the news of the new librarian from Professor Solange, Rozemyne visits the library on the very same day and allows the registration of the new librarian Hortensia right away without any hesitation. Due to Solange only charging the pair of shumil up with Rozemyne's mana from a feystone the day before, the shumil don't immediately switch over to Hortensia however. This will only happen once there is more of their mana inside them than there is of Rozemyne. To avoid accidentally charging them out of habit, Rozemyne states that she will reduce her visits to the library to a minimum, much to Prince Hildebrands dismay. Upon leaving the magic tools tell Rozemyne to pray to the statue of Mestionora, but she refuses and tells them that from now on, they should ask Hortensia to do that, since she is now their official primary master, even though magically speaking the switch has yet to happen. She strokes their feystones and accidentally releases a little bit of mana into them out of habit, before catching herself and cutting off the flow.

< Schwartz and Weiss