"Things certainly are changing in Ehrenfest." Georgine mumbled as she looked over the microscope display. "The glass used for the lens. It is of a higher quality than any glass I've seen before, and expertly shaped. How was it made?"

"Truthfully, none of us even knows. It's another one of Tohsaka's inventions." Veronica openly admitted to her eldest daughter as Aub Ahrensbach visited the Ehrenfest dorm to view their achievements.

She wasn't disguising her words, since the pair had magic tools for privacy and wore veils to hide their expressions and stop people from reading their lips.

It was the small details of what was displayed, with the new types of parchment, the uniformity of the letters, the quality and shape of the glass, the small gears and how they fit together, the differences in the properties of two types of threads that were both made from cotton, and so much more. All of it screamed of something greater than what was being displayed.

"I'm glad to see you've managed to become Aub Ahrensbach's First Wife." Veronica said.

"I'm sure it fits with your scheming quite well." Georgine said flatly.

Veronica rolled her eyes behind her own veil. "When are you going to stop being so childish? You couldn't become Aub Ehrenfest because you failed to find an Archducal Candidate husband while at the Academy. You know the reasons why an Archduchess needs one and why we failed to find you one. So stop acting like it was the ultimate betrayal."

Because an Archduchess who is with child can't interact with the Duchy's foundation, they require an Archducal Candidate husband in order to support them, since only they would have the training necessary to do what needs to be done.

Problem was that Ehrenfest at the time was a bottom ranked Duchy and no one wanted to send a talented son to them. So while there were plenty of Duchy's that would take a beautiful woman like Georgine, none was willing to marry into Ehrenfest to be with her. Not when she had a little brother who had more mana than she did.

"Is that the way you talk to the First Wife of a Greater Duchy?" Georgine said, pulling rank, not that Veronica cared.

"That is the way a mother speaks to her daughter who still hasn't matured after fifteen years gone and who constantly refuses to come home to visit." Veronica snorted. "I'm sorry that your father and I couldn't find you a husband willing to make you Archduchess, but have I not tried my best to support you?"

"...Thank you for the assistance. But I wonder how the future is going to pan out. Do you believe that Tohsaka will continue to favor Ehrenfest in the future, even once she becomes a member of the Royal Family?" Georgine asked, changing the subject.

"To be honest, I don't know. Though if I had to guess, the answer would be no. At least, not in the way she has so far. Her support of Ehrenfest has been a matter of convenience, same as her support of Fernbeltag and Ahrensbach. They were the places she could most easily get a good relationship and favorable trade with, given her location and position. She's had a good rapport with Sylvester and he has been giving her total freedom to do whatever it is she wants. But as a Royal, things will be different. Though it isn't like everything she has made will suddenly disappear."

"It is no secret that the current members of the Royal Family favor Klassenberg, Drewanchel and Gilessenmeyer. A Royal who favors Ahrensbach and Dunkelfelger would receive strong support. Especially one as talented as Tohsaka is." Georgine said smoothly. "With a few negotiations, we can arrange for her to marry the Third Prince, and they would have a strong claim to the throne."

"Third Prince?" Veronica said, showing her surprise as mere interest.

"Has mother not heard? The Third Queen has a son of Dunkelfelger blood. He's only a little more than a year old at the moment, but his blood claim would be enough to bolster Tohsaka's own claim to the title." Georgine said, boasting about her superior intel.

"...That is true. Though whether or not it would work would depend on which of the King's three wives becomes the child's legal mother. If it is the First Wife, then he will likely be forced to support the First or Second Prince. But if the Second or Third Wife adopts him, then that would mean there is a chance." Veronica said, seeing where her daughter was coming from. "We will all need to be ready to move to support her in any way we can."

"Obviously. Even if she is made to support the first two princes, she will become an Archduchess at the very least, and much more likely the next Queen. I'd simply prefer if she ended up in a position that hindered Klassenberg more." Georgine said.

There were a lot of hard feelings between the four Greater Duchies that had supported the current Zent during the Civil War, in that Klassenberg was favored beyond the others, on account of the last surviving member of the Third Prince's family having been adopted into the Klassenberg Archducal family.

It was a move meant solely for political reasons, as because of her bloodline, being the only female of royal blood, she was almost guaranteed the spot of Queen. Or she had been, until Tohsaka had appeared.

If one of the princes became Zent, then Tohsaka had a good chance of stealing the spot of Queen away from Eglantine, but even if that happened, she'd still be a wife of the King. The only way to really spite them was for Tohsaka to become Zent herself. And with Ahrensbach and Dunkelfelger being in the same faction, they would like her husband to be the Third Prince.

"I will see what I can do to convince her." Veronica agreed, concluding their secret conversation in the middle of the busy room.

Neither woman realized that their entire conversation was being listened in on.

Rin was in her room, sitting around a magic tool of her own creation, one that would allow her to tap into the frequencies of the sound blocking magic tools, letting her hear if anyone was trying to have a secret conversation within the building.

Since only the highest levels of nobility usually used them, or spies, Rin wasn't exactly picking up a large number of conversations.

"Well, Veronica is the same as ever, and it would seem that Georgine is just like her mother." Rin sighed as she debated what to do with this information. "Honestly, these people need to find something better to spend their energy on than plotting each other's downfalls."

"Says the one who is spying on people's private conversations." Abigail said cooly, getting a look from Rin.

"I was only testing my magic tool out." Rin said defensively. "Well, it's too bad I didn't add a recording function to it so we could blackmail them with conspiring against the royal family. Not that there was enough room on the stone. I should have splurged on a higher quality stone."

"The lengths you would go to in order to NOT become Zent are astonishing Milady." Sylphine said with a chuckle.

Rin smiled at the pair, who were becoming more and more comfortable around her, despite them being in a position where they had no choice but to hope that she would not someday abandon them. Perhaps it was because the pair started to realize that Rin herself was bi. Or maybe they just thought she was gay, since there weren't any men among the nobility she had taken a liking to.

"Still, I didn't consider that they might try to make me an Archduchess at the end of all this if I refuse the role of Queen." Rin said.

It made sense. There were several territories that currently had no Archducal Families, which were dragging down the Duchies that had to oversee them. Handing one of them off to someone like Rin made sense.

Though being in charge of an entire Duchy would be a massive chore. Especially a Duchy that currently had no native nobles.

Then again, no nobles meant no one to complain if she did whatever it is she wanted. She could hand control of everything over to Benno and just have to worry about supplying mana to the foundation.

She wondered what the man would think about being made the active Archduke of an entire Duchy.

The thought of his dumbfounded face almost made her hope they would do it. At least then she would be out of the running for Zent, since anyone who is registered as the master of one foundation can't become the master of another.

"How much longer is this all going to last?" Rin asked, as she was no longer being allowed to go to the library, meaning she no longer had a reason to be present at all.

"This is only the first of four days." Lieseleta said, seeing Rin slump down in her chair after hearing it.

"This is so boring. Anyone want to play cards?" Rin said dryly, getting chuckles from those around her. They brought out her deck of cards and started to shuffle and deal. The game was just old maid and could be played pretty rapidly while discussing other things. "So, do you think Dunkelfelger will give up on trying to recruit Angelica?"

"Dunkelfelger isn't exactly known for giving up." Brigitte said, taking a card from Angelica's hand and discarding a pair of Queen cards made to look like the Goddess of Light.

"I'm surprised that those strange challenges I kept receiving were marriage proposals. Isn't it weird for them to give them to me instead of my parents or the Archduke?" Angelica said, taking a card from Abigail.

"That's the way things are done in Dunkelfelger. Women are given bridal challenges and it is just accepted that if they manage to complete them then they have earned the right to become the man's First Wife, even if their parents had other plans for them." Abigail said as she took one from Sylphine.

"More than that, aren't you the slightest bit interested? Going from being a Mednoble in Ehrenfest to being an Archnoble in Dunkelfelger is a huge step up." Sylphine said, curious as to why Angelica was so uninterested in their proposals, as she took a card from Taiga.

"What's so great about Dunkelfelger anyways? They have good food or something?" Taiga asked, taking from Rin.

"Dunkelfelger is the second ranked Duchy, which is based around its knights' culture. It has a large number of strong Feybeasts that they hunt for profit, including the Lord of Summer. So they have a lot of money and influence, but I wouldn't say it has any particularly good food culture." Rin said as she took from Lieseleta.

"They are wasting their breath. My sister wants nothing more than to serve Rin, so no matter the status they can offer her, she won't take it." Lieseleta said, moving the chain back to Brigitte.

"It's it going to be rough though for Angelica? She'll need to find an Archnoble husband willing to marry down in a Mednoble family if she intends to stay in Rin's services." Brigitte said, concerned for Angelica's future prospects.

"If they aren't willing to do that, they aren't worthy of her." Rin huffed, breaking the pattern of each only speaking during their own turn.

Angelica's future marriage was a serious problem, as a result of her training under Rin, she already possessed magic power closer to that of an Archnoble's, with her future growth putting her on the level of an Archducal Candidate, meaning only a high ranking Archnoble would be able to marry her.

And since most would want Angelica to become a normal noble wife, giving up on being a knight once she married, that wasn't exactly going to fly with Angelica. And for an Archnoble to marry into her family in order to let her have her freedom was like a low ranking Mednoble marrying to a wealthy commoner family.

It just wasn't going to happen. Not even if Rin favored Angelica so much.

Many Archknights from Dunkelfelger had offered Angelica a chance to marry into their families, because of her skill and knowledge as a knight, and then were confused and angry when she bluntly turned them down, resulting in a lot of complaints for Sylvester to field from the Greater Duchy.

"How about you Brigitte? What are your plans for the future?" Rin asked the young redhead.

"I… I would like to stay in Ehrenfest in order to help my brother." The girl admitted, a little guiltily.

"I figured as much. I wish you the best of luck." Rin admitted.

She'd avoided over training Brigitte, the way she had with Angelica, since she knew that she would one day leave her service, her heart belonging to her home town of Illgner. Not that Rin begrudged her for it.

"Have you managed to find yourself a new husband? If you need help, I can see about pulling a few strings." Rin asked.

"That's alright. With the improvements in Illgner, I managed to find someone during the Starbind Festival." Brigitte admitted.

"Really?" Rin said, this being news to her.

The Starbind Festival had been months ago, and at the time, Brigitte had been very unattractive on paper.

"Yes, thanks to the help of Lady Elvira." Brigitte added.

Now that made a whole lot more sense. Elvira must have figured that Rin favored her retainers and that she could assist Brigitte in getting her happily ever after in order to get in Rin's good books. Ironic, considering how she hadn't even heard about it until now.

A knock came at the door and the knights were all on their feet. "Come in." Rin said casually getting up herself. The door opened to reveal Sylvester and his attendants, all of which were pale. "Is something the matter?"

"...His Majesty wishes to see you."

"This is an interesting treat. I like it." The Zent said thoughtfully as he ate one of the cakes that Ehrenfest had prepared, with pudding instead of frosting. The two princes were also there when Rin had arrived.

Both princes had short light golden hair, with the older prince, Sigiswald, having wavy hair and the younger, Anastasius, having straight hair.

Sigiswald looked around twelve, while Anastasius was ten years old.

The older brother watched Rin out of the corner of his eye with curiosity, while the younger brother focused on his food with a look of annoyance on his face.

"Thank you for the compliment. I'm sure the cooks will be glad to hear such praise from His Majesty." Rin said, imagining Nicola's face when she is told that the King himself liked her cooking.

It would probably match her expression from when she was told she would be a royal chef in the future.

"Thank you for this new experience, but there are things that need to be discussed." The Zent said as she finished his plate and leveled his eyes on Rin. "You have been very busy these last few days in the library. Tell me. What have you learned?"

"...I've learned a lot of things. None of them are appropriate for open discussion." Rin said, glancing at the various guards and attendants with disapproval.

"We can use sound blocking magic tools, if you wish." The Zent said.

"Not good enough. I myself have created magic tools capable of listening in on any conversation taking place within the effect of one of those tools anywhere within the building. And if I was able to make one, who is to say someone else hasn't figured it out as well." Rin objected with a shake of the head.

The Zent frowned at this bit of information. "I see. In that case, everyone leave. My sons and I will speak to Tohsaka in private."

"Your Majesty…" One of his guards tried to object, but was shot down with a royal order. Also with an order that if anyone was to be caught spying on their conversation, they should be cut down.

"Is that good enough?" The Zent asked.

"Give me a moment." Rin said, before performing a spell to sweep the room for any signs of magic tools hidden away in the corners, impressing the Royals. "It seems that we are in the clear. So let me be blunt. From my current research of the mana flow within the country's borders, I believe that the Kingdom of Yurgenschmidt was established by the Gods in order to act as a seal, sealing away what is likely the insane God of Life within the Earth. Part of the magic power that we put into the foundations and use in the dedication acts as a reinforcement to the seal, preventing it from breaking."

She had no evidence that it was the God of Life sealed within the land, as the scriptures that were copied from the Goddess of Wisdom's book only covered the events up till the Goddess's birth, not mentioning any events after it. So the construction of the Kingdom and the events surrounding it came from secondary sources.

No one knew what was and wasn't real.

"...I see. That is disturbing." The Zent said, his expression worried.

"More than disturbing. If Yurgenschmidt fails to maintain the foundation stones, it wouldn't just mean the fall of one or two Duchies. If the seal breaks and the Gods start fighting again, we are all done for." Rin said.

"Father, you can't seriously believe this girl." Anastasius said, giving Rin a scornful look. "She's nothing more than a child spouting nonsense."

"If you would like for me to send my retainers to fetch the documents that prove my claims, that can be arranged." Rin said, not at all put off about being called a liar.

"Oh yes, please bring us your eviden…"

"Enough." The King said, cutting off his son. "Anastasius, Tohsaka is the greatest mind our kingdom has at its disposal. If she says that she has found evidence then I will not waste time questioning her." His declaration caused both of his sons to look at him with open shock. "How long do we have?"

"No idea. All of the data I used to determine the seals existence is old and doesn't reflect the recent changes. I would need to do my own experiments to find out how much it has deteriorated."

"Do it then. So long as it won't take time better spent finding a solution." The King ordered. "Have you found any evidence of how to obtain the Grutrissheit?"

Both Princes sat up straighter at their father's mention of the legendary book.

"No. Nothing solid at least. I have theories of where information might be held though." Rin said, getting an even stronger visible reaction out of the Royals.

Part of her wanted to abstain from telling them these things, as even without a blood relation to royalty, there was historical evidence that it was entirely possible to obtain the sacred book, but armageddon was on the horizon. Now wasn't the time to be greedy.

Especially since she was the most likely person to be able to obtain the book anyways.

"Where?"

"Two places easily come to mind. The first is the Archbishops' copies of the Scriptures. They are magic items that only show their contents to the one they are registered to, and they possess far more pages than the common copies. Given the history the Royal Family and Archducal Families once had of sending promising men to the Temple to act as Archbishops, those Scriptures are a likely candidate for a place that holds valuable information." Rin said.

"Are you saying that the Church has been withholding information about this!?" Anastasius demanded.

"Probably, and they aren't the only ones." Rin said. "Every year, the Academy's head librarian has invited His Majesty to visit a hidden archive underneath the library where documents meant only for the eyes of the Royal Family and Archducal Candidates reside, an Archive that the previous Kings had all visited annually. But each time she sent her request, the message would never even reach His Majesty, as your retainers would stop it before it got to you, claiming you were far too busy."

"...These people." The Zent said, seeming far too tired to be angry. "Do they not understand the damage that they are doing? How much they're putting all of us at risk."

"Father." The Princes said, looking at their father with pity, understanding the burden he was under.

"Have you spoken to Aub Ehrenfest about this?" The Zent asked.

"No. I haven't told anyone outside of this room." Rin said.

"Tell him, and have him assign you to the role of Archbishop for your remaining time in Ehrenfest. You can take Anastasius and Sigiswald with you to the hidden archives after your adoption." The King said. "There is also one last thing I would like you to research, if you can find the time."

"And that is?" Rin asked, curious.

"The border gates. I want you to figure out a way to open and close them." The King said. "Right now, the south western coast is in shambles because of their gate being closed, causing the fish to die and the water line to drop. In order to stabilize the region, we need to find a way to open up that gate, without the Grutrissheit. Do you believe it is possible?"

"...No idea. But I am willing to try. Ehrenfest has its own closed gate that I can experiment with." Rin replied.

"I pray that the Goddess of Time grants you haste." The King said, getting up from his seat. "Good luck, Tohsaka Myne."

Rin blinked in surprise as the man left the room, his two sons trailing behind him, throwing her curious looks.

Looks like Rin had more work to do.

Lovely.

To whoever said that trains could be thought of as a weapon of war... not in this universe.

The military is basically only made up of nobles, because commoners with bows and arrows aren't exactly useful against people in magic power armor who can shoot laser beams out of their wands. And all nobles have things like small item bags and Highbeasts.

The transportation of people and goods is not an issue of theirs during War. Their issues are the barriers set up by the foundation stones that stop their advances and block their attacks. Things you need magic tools to get around. Not stuff effected by having a bunch of commoner stuff.

So no. Rin hasn't introduced anything in this universe that would be useful for war. Accept maybe paper for the sake of information, since information is key in war.