Chapter 518

“If you wish, you can meet her anytime. She’s always at home.”

She’s always at home, huh.

I suppressed the words that had risen to my throat and smiled. Ralph Huber checked his watch and rose from his seat. Still smiling brightly, he gestured for us to follow.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Ulrich Wirth, from America.”

After arriving at the residence Ralph Huber had led us to, I kissed Sarah Hohenfels’s hand.

Sarah Hohenfels was an Old Human who looked to be in her mid-thirties. There was no wedding ring on her hand. Did she still love Ralph Huber, a Catholic priest? Had she been unable to give up on him even knowing about the vow he had made to God when he became a priest?

Of course she had. That was why, in 1898, Ralph Huber was sitting as a Pleroma auxiliary bishop…

I had to fight the urge to throw up everything I had eaten and drunk that day from the faint scent of lotion coming from Hohenfels’s hands and arms.

Sara Hohenfels essentially looked like an intellectual. She was dressed more neatly than this rigid American Protestant pastor, and she looked out at the world with an intelligent gaze without losing her air of dignity. Rather than bringing shame upon her family name, she looked like the very embodiment of her family.

If she grew old just like this, the townspeople would hold her in high regard—the sort of respect commonly given to wealthy and wise elders in many towns.

“You’re from America, yet you have a German name.”

“I was born in Germany and moved to America.”

“That certainly makes me curious about your past. Since my dear friend brought you here, I’m sure Mr. Ulrich Wirth must be a good man as well. Still, I would like to know how our Catholic priest came to bring a pastor here.”

At that, Ralph Huber, who had been sitting there with a self-satisfied, proud expression all this time, placed a hand on my shoulder and answered.

“Your religious views are very similar. I thought you two would get along well, so I brought him here.”

“Is that so? How remarkable.”

Sarah Hohenfels raised her brows as though surprised by this unexpected revelation. She invited us into the drawing room and had a servant bring us tea.

After that, I repeated the sermons I had given in the two cities. By the time our conversation came to an end, I realized that Sarah Hohenfels’s smile had not once left her face throughout the entire sermon. She gently lifted the corners of her mouth in admiration.

“Your views are remarkably clear and timely, Pastor. Your ability to draw people in is exceptional. I lost track of time listening to your sermon. It was a meaningful experience.”

An exceptional ability to draw people in.

Was that because of my Charm Trait and years of experience acting? I certainly wasn’t going to complain. I also had no intention of telling her that this sermon had already drawn in so many people. Even if there was no harm in letting her know, I needed to keep my words to a minimum if I wanted to steer her in the direction I wanted.

“I’m more than pleased to hear you say that. I’m surprised to find that there is someone in my homeland who shares my views so completely, especially someone as like-minded as you, Miss Hohenfels.”

“I like the idea that resurrection can be brought about here on earth. Science tells us that resurrection on earth is impossible, but religion deals with realms that science cannot reach. And now that magic has appeared, the study of magic has developed, and magic as a science is gradually building a more rigorous academic foundation, I believe we can approach the words of Scripture with an open mind.”

“Exactly, Miss Hohenfels. That is precisely what I mean. The resurrection that the Lord showed us Himself will one day be ours as well.”

At that, Sarah Hohenfels raised the corners of her mouth.

She dismissed everyone else and tried to speak with me alone, but I insisted that Archduke Maria, at the very least, had to stay as my assistant. In the end, the three of us remained. Emanuel wasn’t here either, since I had left him behind on the way to the mansion. With Ralph Huber gone, I decided it was about time to steer the conversation to another subject.

“Hohenfels… I suppose your ancestors were nobles.”

“That is correct. Strictly speaking, I am a noble as well. I simply am not a New Human.”

I nodded, pretending to be surprised.

“I didn’t know that was possible.”

“If you look closely enough, there must be cases like mine. With a population this large, surely there can’t be no such examples at all.”

“Of course. The Hohenfels family, then. It must be a very old and distinguished family.”

At that, Sarah Hohenfels merely smiled without answering. It was obvious enough that I was asking her to tell me about her family. I smiled faintly.

When I opened her status window, what I saw was ‘Memory DistortionErinnerungsverfälschung.’ Despite being an Old Human, she possessed a Special Ability. That meant either, first, that she was an Old Human mage, or, second, that she was Pleroma. Given the circumstances, the second possibility was far more likely.

Now it was time to open my own status window. My vision went dark, as though someone had switched everything off.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on a bed. The silk wallpaper of the Crown Prince’s Palace came into view. It couldn’t have been that long since I had left, yet being back made me miss my friend. I wouldn’t have minded if it were the five-years-old version of him, either. I knew that with the start of the operation, the peace we had now would slip through my fingers like a handful of sand, never to return. Perhaps that was why I wanted to gather up every last grain, to hold on to even this temporary peace for as long as I could.

But both he and I had to devote ourselves fully to the operation from our respective positions, and I had no intention of clinging to such a paltry peace.

I pushed myself off the ground, quickly changed into Sir Nikolaus Ernst’s formal attire, and draped a robe over it. After creating a mask with magic, I left the Crown Prince’s Palace, summoned my secretary, and headed for the Wittelsbach archives.

The guards stationed outside the archives checked the faces of my secretary and me, then stamped their feet and stepped aside. Knowing that this was a time when we had to be thorough, I conjured divine power in my hand and used it in place of identification, so they wouldn’t grow careless. That was also why I had come in person instead of sending only my secretary. They quickly closed the door after I entered.

I changed my wand into a staff, brought it down, and recited the spell.

— Seek, and you shall find.

“Hohenfels.”

Light spread throughout the archives. It looked as though the Hohenfels family was larger than I had expected, and it would take quite some time to look through everything. My secretary quickly waved his wand and gathered the documents. While he sorted them, I thanked him and began reading through the documents I could reach first.

[…The Hohenfels and Ehrenfels families, branches of the Raitenbuch family, a vassal family of the Diocese of Regensburg, were…]

[…Their line died out in the early 15th century, bringing the family to an end.]

[…Albrecht von Hohenfels, a member of the cathedral chapter of Eichstätt Cathedral, and Ulrich von Hohenfels, provost of the monastery in Spalt…]

A vassal family of a bishop. They had been closely connected to Christianity since ancient times. Their line had died out in the early 15th century. I closed the document again, set it on the table, and opened another.

[…On December 28, 1250, Konrad von Hohenfels, head of the Hohenfels family, attempted to assassinate Conrad IV of the Hohenstaufen dynasty on the orders of the Bishop of Regensburg, who was loyal to the Pope. When Conrad IV, who had been in continual conflict with the Pope at the time, stayed at a monastery in Regensburg, the Bishop of Regensburg saw it as an opportunity to prove his loyalty to the Pope and ordered his vassal, Konrad von Hohenfels, to assassinate him. However, Konrad von Hohenfels failed in his mission and fled. Conrad IV later destroyed Hohenfels Castle, but it was soon rebuilt…]

Something to consider from the countless Hohen—. To put it simply, despite the many different examples, ‘Hohen,’ meaning ‘high,’ is often included in the names of places or buildings located on high ground. Since geographical names used as surnames generally indicate nobility—for example, Lukas von Anhalt and Leonard von Bayern¹—anyone hearing the name Hohenfels would immediately recognize it as a noble surname, even without knowing whether such a family actually existed.

One of my questions was this. With what confidence had Sarah Hohenfels so boldly claimed to be a descendant of the Hohenfels family, whose line had already died out in the 15th century? And how had that claim been accepted by the local community? Sarah Hohenfels did not even live in Hohenfels itself, near Regensburg, or anywhere in the surrounding area. She was in Bamberg, much farther north. Had Sarah Hohenfels used her memory distortion Special Ability on the people of Bamberg? Or was she actually from the Hohenfels family of Württemberg, making her a member of a surviving branch? As I had thought while speaking with Ralph Huber, there were two Hohenfels families. The Hohenfels family of Bavaria had died out, while the one in Württemberg had survived.

I called for my secretary.

“Sir, please check whether there have been any grave-robbing incidents involving the Hohenfels family of Württemberg.”

“Understood, Your Excellency.”

A family that still had descendants would presumably have records that were relatively easy to trace. The reason I was having such difficulty finding anything now was that the Hohenfels family of Bavaria had died out so long ago. I went through all the other records.

[In the 13th century, the Cistercian monastery at Pielenhofen was founded by the Hohenfels family and other vassals of the Bishop of Regensburg.]

[Likewise, in the 13th century, Adelheid von Hohenfels and her husband founded the Cistercian monastery of Seligenporten, which belonged to the Diocese of Eichstätt.]

[…In 1427, stewards of the Wittelsbach family of the Palatinate seized the castle, which was later destroyed by the Hussites of Bohemia. The castle was rebuilt once more…]

[The Hohenfels estate passed to Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, and …in 1804, the Hohenfels administrative office was dissolved, and the intact castle was sold for demolition.]

[When Bishop Wulfing of Bamberg enfeoffed the Wittelsbach brothers, Rudolf and Ludwig, with Beilngries, Hemau, Amberg, and Nittenau, members of the Ehrenfels family, commonly regarded as a branch of the Hohenfels family, were present as Wittelsbach vassals.]

[Albrecht von Hohenfels was the bishop of the Diocese of Eichstätt. However, when Berthold von Zollern was appointed the new Bishop of Eichstätt in 1351, Albrecht I relinquished his rights as bishop. He died in 1355 and was recorded as having been buried in the Willibald choir of the Eichstätt Cathedral, but his tombstone no longer exists.]

Berthold von Zollern, the person who bore that familiar surname, was indeed a distant ancestor of Elias. One might wonder why a member of the Zollern family had served as Bishop of Eichstätt, which now belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria, but the Zollern family had originally come from the area that is now the Grand Duchy of Württemberg—that is, from the south.

It was like this every time I opened an article or book about Hohenfels. Medieval terms such as the Wittelsbachs of the Palatinate, the Zollern family, fiefs, and bishoprics were scattered throughout the records. This was the only kind of article that came with old terminology and terms that were no longer in use.

[Hohenfels Castle has now been demolished and being used as a quarry.]

Even the terminology alone made it impossible to ignore the fact that the Hohenfels family of Bavaria had disappeared long ago. No matter how I looked at it, there was no evidence that anyone from Hohenfels could have existed in 1886.

My secretary approached me and spoke.

“Your Excellency. There was an incident involving the desecration of graves at the Hohenfels estate in Württemberg in 1889.”

“What about before 1886?”

“None.”

“Then, this may be difficult, but please find out whether someone named Sarah Hohenfels lived at the Hohenfels estate in Bavaria.”

“The Hohenfels estate in Bavaria has already…”

“I know it will be difficult. Please.”

“Understood.”

I nodded at his answer and brought the staff down.

— Seek, and you shall find.

Once again, I unleashed divine power and recited the names one by one. Bavaria, Regensburg, Pielenhofen, and Seligenthal.

I searched the areas that seemed suspicious, looking for any reports of grave robbing or grave desecration before early 1886, but there wasn’t a single one. Perhaps the incidents were too minor and happened in places too small to make the papers. Both Pielenhofen and Seligenthal were far enough from the nearest city that getting there required quite a journey.

Or…

[…Albrecht I relinquished his rights as bishop. He died in 1355 and was recorded as having been buried in the Willibald choir of the Eichstätt Cathedral, but his tombstone no longer exists.]

Perhaps so much time had passed since Albrecht von Hohenfels’s death that his remains had disappeared, been transferred elsewhere, moved unofficially, or simply discarded. Or perhaps the record had been wrong from the beginning.

If Sarah Hohenfels really was a person from somewhere between the 13th and 15th centuries, then, like Albrecht von Hohenfels, her remains could have been moved to a place no one knew about. This wasn’t a family that had disappeared recently. It had been gone for hundreds of years, so it was hard to believe that their graves would still be where they were supposed to be.

If that was the case, then there was something I had to wonder about.

It was Pleroma that had created those who rose from their graves. The first leader of Pleroma must have been the one to accomplish such a feat. If people could naturally be resurrected from their graves, rumors of the dead returning to life should have existed even before Pleroma. Yet the resurrection of the flesh had always been regarded as nothing more than an absurd fantasy.

In 1886, Sarah Hohenfels had already been friends with Ralph Huber for at least fifteen years. But hadn’t Pleroma only begun in 1885?

There were four possibilities.

First, Sarah Hohenfels was simply a living person pretending to be a member of the Hohenfels family. To believe this, however, I would have to ignore the fact that her status window displayed her name as Sarah Hohenfels, exactly as it was.

Second, this was the possibility I had to bet on. Since Sarah Hohenfels possessed a mental ability, she had implanted false memories throughout the entire town. After being resurrected and meeting Father Ralph Huber, Sarah Hohenfels had fallen in love with him and manipulated his mind to draw him into Pleroma with ease. She had made it seem as though they had known each other since childhood.

But if that was the case, why implant such an absurd memory as ‘proposing to a Catholic priest’? Wouldn’t it have been more effective to implant a memory like, ‘You have loved me for years’?

Of course, even if she had implanted such memories, Ralph Huber would have been bewildered to find that, starting today, he no longer felt any love for Sarah Hohenfels. So there was a good chance those feelings would remain firmly in the past. And when it came to making two people seem to have known each other for a long time, implanting a powerful event would certainly be easier and more effective than filling someone’s mind with trivial, uneventful memories of everyday life. Still, something about it didn’t sit right with me.

Third, Pleroma had actually been active even before 1885. Even as I considered it, I found the idea absurd.

The fourth possibility, I would leave unsaid.

“Your sudden collapse gave me quite a fright. Are you all right?”

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw unfamiliar eyes pretending to be concerned. It was Sarah Hohenfels. Archduke Maria’s hand was hesitantly rubbing my shoulder. I frowned, shot upright, and played along.

“Oh dear.”

“You don’t seem to be in very good health.”

“No, it’s not that… I must have ended up like this without realizing it after talking nonstop since morning, right after entering the country. I’m usually quite healthy.”

“You don’t look it.”

“I wish I did. What a shame. But there’s no need to call a doctor. Goodness, I’m sorry to have caused you unnecessary concern.”

All right. Let’s think this through calmly.

What should I do? How could I get information out of Sarah Hohenfels? How did the Archdiocese of Bamberg, where Sarah Hohenfels was the archbishop, and the Diocese of Eichstätt function as a single diocese? Was that something that happened ‘after she rose from the grave,’ or had it already happened before then? Now that I had confirmed the Hohenfels family’s impressive influence, I couldn’t help but wonder. Why hadn’t Sarah Hohenfels, a native of Regensburg, gone back to where she came from? Was it because she wanted the person she loved to advance within the Archdiocese of Bamberg? In other words, was there some way I could gather all the information about Pleroma’s dioceses throughout Bavaria at once?

Ralph Huber had said she stayed at home all the time. Unless she was manipulating his memories every day, that was probably true. And if she really was one of those who had risen from the grave, she would have even more reason to stay home. The 13th to 15th centuries she had lived in were so different from the present that she must feel as though she had been dropped onto an alien world. If Sarah Hohenfels really did stay home all the time, then the lever for crossing into Pleroma’s world would also be in her mansion. She only appeared to be home all the time because she was spending her time in Pleroma’s world.

So I considered luring Sarah Hohenfels outside, finding the lever in her mansion, and crossing into Pleroma’s world with Maria. If this were the end of the operation, I would have done exactly that. But I wanted to have control over Pleroma in this world as well. To do that, I had to be careful. If I recklessly crossed into Pleroma’s world without her permission, Sarah Hohenfels would follow us. And if I eliminated or stopped Sarah Hohenfels to prevent her from causing us harm, someone else would become the Archbishop of Bamberg. In the end, nothing would be solved.

Did I need to win Sarah Hohenfels over? I absolutely did not want to do that.

That was why I had come up with this strategy. I rubbed my face and waved a hand at Sarah Hohenfels, who was pretending to worry about me.

“Really, I’m quite all right. If anything, I don’t have time for this. I can’t simply lie down because I’m tired when I still have to fulfill my calling before I leave.”

“You don’t have time?”

“I have to report to my church in America on the results of my evangelism, and I also have a commentary I’ve been writing.”

“You have quite a few people to keep in touch with. Then, what do you mean by your calling?”

“To give many people hope in resurrection and eternal life through my sermons. To tell them that we must move forward without losing hope, holding fast to our faith. We, the children of Christ, must come together.”

I knew Pleroma was still in the early stages of its denomination. They were only just beginning. Wasn’t there something here I could use? Wasn’t there a gap I could exploit…?

Sarah Hohenfels, sitting there with an expression that gave away nothing of what she was thinking, said, “In the beginning was the Logos.”

I shouldn’t let her know that I had said the exact same thing to Ralph Huber. I would have to alter Ralph Huber’s memory. I nodded as though I didn’t know what she meant.

“That’s right.”

I should have done more than say, That’s right. I should have stared into her eyes in silence, scanning her. If I were Pleroma, that was what I should have done. Sarah Hohenfels realized from my reaction that I wasn’t Pleroma and leaned forward.

“What is your next destination?”

“I intend to preach in Nuremberg and Bayreuth.”

Sarah Hohenfels nodded and thought for a moment before gesturing for us to wait and leaving for another room. About twenty minutes later, she returned to the drawing room and said to us, “I’d like to ask you a favor. There are people who need your help right now, Pastor.”

“Please, go on.”

I answered with a solemn expression, just like her. She rose from her seat and beckoned us over. She led us upstairs to her room, had us all hold hands, and moved the framed picture above the fireplace.

The scene changed.

Archduke Maria’s eyes changed when he witnessed the spatial magic technology he had only heard about. Sarah Hohenfels gestured for us to follow. I examined the surroundings and asked, “Is this…?”

“A cathedral.”

Sarah Hohenfels stated the obvious. I knew that. Which cathedral was it? It had to be Bamberg Cathedral. I memorized the interior so I could look for it after we returned.

Strangely, Sarah Hohenfels had us hold hands again before approaching the altar. Could there really be another travel lever here? Remarkably, Pleroma had already taken control of the spatial magic in the cathedral back in 1886. How had they managed to acquire such incredible technology so early? I watched Sarah Hohenfels’s every move with my senses on high alert. Her dignified movements seemed almost slow to me. Sarah Hohenfels’s hand reached for a golden candlestick.

The moment she gently pushed the candlestick backward, the colors and light before my eyes changed completely. I raised my head and realized that we were back at the entrance, even though we had been standing near the altar just a moment ago. And unlike before, countless people were seated in the pews.

It was Munich Cathedral. The very place we had already swept clean.

There was a lever that could take people from one cathedral to another. Judging by how it was operated by moving something near the altar, it had obviously been made for the convenience of the clergy. The priests and worshippers alike were turning to look at us. Sarah Hohenfels pointed toward the front of the altar.

“These people want to hear your sermon, Pastor.”

I stepped back, looking troubled. Then I whispered loudly enough for only Sarah Hohenfels and Archduke Maria to hear.

“Why?”

“Because they want to come together. There is a powerful force in your words and expressions that draws people in. We, the children of Christ, want that strength and conviction.”

It wasn’t that they wanted it. They needed it.

A cult always needs a preacher who can beguile people with words, and someone who can talk like that is bound to become the driving force behind raising the church’s revenue. People like that eventually rise into leadership positions.

From this point on, I would be working for Pleroma without even realizing I was in Pleroma’s world. They had no plans to force me into Pleroma right away—they already knew that there were many people waiting to hear from me in America. Those who had risen from the grave were cut off from the outside world, but those who hadn’t were a different matter. I had to be careful.

I pretended to be flustered, and Sarah Hohenfels asked, “You seemed to want to preach. Is that not the case?”

“No, I do want to preach, but that’s the problem. Would a pastor even be allowed to preach in a Catholic church? They wouldn’t welcome it!”

As if they wouldn’t. Right on cue, Sarah Hohenfels smiled and said exactly what I had expected.

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

Of course. Because you’re not Catholics. You’re heretics.

I touched the corner of my mouth, keeping a confused expression on my face. But inside, I wasn’t confused at all.

It worked. Now I could finally begin in earnest.

Leonard Wittelsbach often found himself torn.

He agonized over the divide between the duties of an absolute monarch and the values of liberalism. He had only one duty, and to fulfill it, he sometimes had to act against the very values he held dear.

His closest friend from Prussia, who threw himself wholeheartedly behind the values of liberalism and social security, agonized over questions that Leonard Wittelsbach could wrestle with fiercely, but could never make the center of his life.

Conversely, Leonard Wittelsbach agonized over questions of a kind that his closest friend—one of the countless collateral members of the royal family who bore no duty as a monarch—had never had to face.

This was precisely such a moment.

“Your Highness.”

The older advisers entered the conference room, greeted him politely, and took their seats. Leonard Wittelsbach did not shake their hands. When he was with his friends, he often shook everyone’s hand. Not today. His position did not allow for handshakes. In any direction.

With a major operation about to begin, Leonard Wittelsbach remained silent before the advisers who would be at his side every step of the way. The oldest among them, waiting for him to speak, finally broke the silence.

“You said you intended to hold direct talks with the Catacombs, Your Highness.”

“That’s right.”

Leonard Wittelsbach finally answered.

“Are you saying you intend to go to war with Prussia?”

They had already made use of Catacombs members during the Pentathlon. At the time, however, they had routed them through the Papal See and made it official that they had met with personnel from the Papal See instead. Aside from the unofficial strategic meeting with Marian Baum, they had never met with anyone from the Catacombs directly. That had been how they protected the Catacombs’ mages from Prussia, which would have begun an investigation if their involvement had been discovered.

Now Leonard Wittelsbach was saying that he intended to meet the Catacombs directly. That left his advisers stunned.

One of them spoke.

“If I may be so bold, Your Highness, there is another way. We could communicate through Catacombs mages who have been moved to the Papal See or abroad, as we did before.”

“The Catacombs have said they will no longer put forward Marian Baum as their sole diplomat. I received this letter from Sir Marian Baum five minutes ago.”

Having Marian Baum continue to communicate with the outside world alone was a major risk for the Catacombs as well. Marian Baum was not their chairman, and even if he were, they could not allow him to make so many important decisions on his own. The Catacombs had made the right decision.

That, in itself, was an answer to the adviser’s request. Refusing to communicate through Marian Baum alone meant that they wanted their leadership and administrative body to negotiate directly with theirs. Despite receiving their decision, contacting Catacombs members who had gone to the Papal See would amount to refusing to treat the Catacombs as an equal negotiating partner. It would destroy the trust between them.

The adviser hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“So you intend to meet several members of the Catacombs’ leadership at once? The Imperial Constitution defines Old Human mages as illegal entities. If Bavaria refuses to follow the Imperial Constitution, it could easily be interpreted as a declaration that Bavaria intends to go to war with all of Germany. I, too, consider the unconstitutionality and immorality of the Imperial Constitution imposed by the Kingdom of Prussia to be a serious problem. But war is another matter. If we protest Prussia’s decision gradually and work to restore the Catacombs’ position without provoking a conflict, we can minimize the bloodshed. But if you move boldly enough to risk war, hundreds, even thousands, of innocent lives could be lost as a result.”

“And most importantly, the Catacombs’ leadership will not welcome your presence, Your Highness.”

Leonard turned his gaze toward the voice. Another adviser seated at the end of the table spoke with a serious expression.

“Even if Your Highness is friendly toward them, they will never be friendly toward you. It would be unthinkable to conclude that the Catacombs are on Bavaria’s side simply because of your friendship with Sir Marian Baum. Your Highness, the Catacombs are not an enemy of the Royal Family, but the Royal Family is an enemy of the Catacombs.”

Leonard remained silent and expressionless, allowing the adviser to continue.

“I am speaking from the standpoint of the Royal Family’s security, but from the Catacombs’ perspective as well, an audience with the Crown Prince himself is likely to be seen as a threat from the highest power in the state—the Royal Family. Therefore, if Your Highness wishes to avoid threatening the Catacombs, you would have no choice but to approach them from a position of deference, and the Kingdom of Bavaria would never accept that. From the Catacombs’ point of view, this meeting would benefit no one and only leave wounds behind. I ask that you reconsider.”

Their opinions grew more heated and began to take shape. Leonard did not miss a single word of their advice, mentally charting the progress of the discussion.

Another adviser spoke to the Crown Prince, trying to reinforce his argument.

“Your Highness has no intention of complying with what is unjust, just like His Majesty the King. Until now, Prussia has turned a blind eye to Bavaria’s independent actions because it wished to avoid unnecessary conflict with Bavaria. But direct contact with Catacombs mages is a different matter.”

Leonard smiled at that. Then he spoke firmly.

“Enough.”

Translator Note

The Hohenfels and Ehrenfels family history mentioned in this chapter is based on real historical figures and events. You can read more here.

1. I mentioned this in Chapter 471’s note, but I’ll say it again for those who didn’t read that chapter’s note or those who have forgotten. von Bayern literally means ‘of Bavaria.’ Bayern is the German name for Bavaria, so Leonard von Bayern can be understood as ‘Leonard of Bavaria.’ ↩︎