Chapter 9 Translator: XZY
Chapter 9: Diella (2) ***
Crunch, crunch
In the dead of night, when everyone except the servants on duty was asleep.
Derek organized his thoughts as he crossed the garden leading to the annex.
In the end, to teach 1-Star magic, one had to first manifest basic mana.
To try to handle star-rank magic without even knowing how to draw out mana was no different from trying to fire a gun without bullets.
The foundation of all magic was to perceive and manifest mana.
There was no way the mages who had taught Diella until now did not know that. There must have been a reason why they had all failed.
In fact, training this basic quality of mana had no established theory, and opinions were divided among the schools, so everyone found it difficult. This was because each mage had a different way of handling mana and different instincts.
At such times, one had no choice but to rack one's brain, so it was understandable that a magic teacher was a high-class profession.
It was also understandable why the noble families of the continent competed to bring a decent magic teacher into their own family. Teaching magic was just that profound a task.
'If the Scholastic school method didn't work, there's no choice but to approach it from a different angle.'
Derek continued his steps.
She must have learned all the theoretical content about mana long ago. It was highly likely that she simply lacked a trigger for manifestation.
The Scholastic school divided the process of mana utilization into four stages. Perception, extraction, manipulation, and manifestation. If one went through these four stages smoothly and completed the final manifestation, one could finally handle the mana in one's body this way and that.
However, Derek had not learned magic in that way.
What had taught Derek magic was not a reference book, ink, and a quill pen. It was the blade that came before his eyes, the flying arrow, and the axe handle swung by a goblin.
When had the young Derek first manifested mana?
It was when he had climbed the back mountain to eat even dry grass and encountered a wild boar.
The fear of death that came right up to his throat, the immediate reality that he had to struggle to survive, had manifested the young Derek's mana. That was the moment Derek had first used magic.
That was the way the Wild school mages lived.
They had always manifested mana in the midst of extreme survival instincts.
"..."
Derek recalled Diella's paintings, which were full of blank spaces, and then, with a slight nod, he walked on.
<><><>
BANG!
As Derek kicked open the door of the mansion's annex, the maids who were waiting in the hall were startled.
Late at night. A boy in a robe, bathed in the moonlight, kicking open the main gate of the annex. It was harder not to be surprised at that sight.
When he revealed his face and they recognized him as Derek, the maids became even more flustered.
"Wh, what brings you here..."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Derek passed the maids and strode out into the hall.
At his gait, which felt almost resolute, the maids could not even say anything to stop him. He was Diella's designated teacher, who had been given authority directly by the Duke.
Before heading to Diella's room, he stopped by the kitchen.
The clean, cold water that the maids had drawn in advance for the next day's cooking immediately caught his eye. He picked up the entire oaken water bucket and went up the central hall stairs. Passing the anxious gazes of the maids, he walked straight on and kicked open the door to Diella's room.
BANG!
In the middle of a bed adorned with lots of lace, Diella, buried like a princess, came into view, sound asleep.
Along with her pretty pajamas, her hair, tied to one side, was glossy. Looking only at her sleeping form, there was no other gentle lady like her.
SPLASH!
Just like that, Derek poured the water without any mercy.
The maids who had followed him up out of anxiety shrieked in surprise, and the domain knights who had come up, half-asleep after waking up, also had their expressions freeze.
"Kyaaak!"
A bolt from the blue, no, a splash of water from the blue, Diella woke up with a start.
Derek came into her sight.
He had thrown the empty water bucket on the floor and, as always, was looking down at Diella with his chilling, blood-red eyes.
"Wh, wh, what is this! You... you...!"
"You can sleep right now?"
"What?"
"I'm asking if you can sleep right now."
If she stayed like this, she was headed for the monastery.
Diella must have had an intuition about that fact as well. If she stayed like this, she wouldn't even be able to remain in this mansion, let alone make her high society debut.
Perhaps because she had never even imagined she would be hit with a splash of cold water in her sleep, Diella glared at Derek with a look of disbelief. From Derek's perspective, it was a merciful act, since it was better than being drenched in dirty water.
Derek grabbed Diella's arm just like that. Diella tried to resist his coercive attitude, but there was nothing she could do about the difference in physical strength.
"Kyaak! Wh, what are you doing! Everyone! Why are you just watching! Stop him! I said stop this commoner!"
"..."
The servants who were watching with worried eyes from outside the room could do nothing.
A sense of anxiety that this was really okay was welling up, but in any case, the justification was with Derek.
Diella tried to tear Derek's arm off somehow, but it was no use. Derek dragged Diella down the mansion stairs with long strides.
When he came down to the hall, dragging Diella who looked like a drowned rat, the head butler Delon was watching with worried eyes. It seemed he had run over after hearing the news.
However, Delon had no grounds to stop Derek. Derek simply lowered his head and gave a slight bow, and then took Diella out of the annex.
"You... do you think you can get away with this?!"
Derek went out to the back of the annex and strode out to the outside of the mansion.
He walked and walked and walked out of the mansion, dragging the rioting Diella. This procession, whose end was unknown, continued for some time.
Late at night.
The moonlight that filled the sky was illuminating the world.
Only after coming out to the middle of a meadow quite a distance from the mansion did Derek swing his arm and throw Diella onto the grass.
Flop
"Kyaat!"
Blades of grass stuck to her water-soaked pajamas.
All sorts of leaves were stuck to her golden hair, which had been like beautiful silk, making it difficult to see her as a lady of a noble house.
Diella's fingertips were trembling, but she eventually managed to put on a smile and spoke.
"Ha... haha... do you think anything will change by doing this?"
"..."
"You're going to teach me magic? Me? Do you think you were the only one who said that? Do you think I haven't tried? Sorry, but wake up. Go play teacher to the nobles somewhere else!"
Diella was saying everything she had to say, even while her body was trembling.
Even after being hit with a splash of water and thrown onto the grassy ground, that confident tone never disappeared.
"You commoner...!"
Derek, who had been leaving Diella alone as she finally screamed, eventually approached her slowly.
And then, he squatted down, met Diella's eyes, and spoke.
"You don't have a listening ear, and we've come far from the mansion, so I'll take this opportunity to tell you."
"What..."
"I don't particularly have any intention of teaching you magic, Lady Diella."
"──What?"
Eventually, the corners of Derek's mouth rose in a chilling way.
Even in the dead of night where darkness reigned, the moonlight shone brightly. Bathed in that moonlight, along with Derek's red pupils, a creepy smile flowed.
"I just enjoy beating up nobles."
"What... did you say...?"
He was a man who had maintained a minimum of dignity in the ducal estate of Duplein.
However, as soon as there were no eyes watching, his raw side came out as if it had never been hidden.
"As I said, I am a commoner from the bottom. Is there any reason for me to like the nobles who look down on me arrogantly from their magnificent mansions just because they were born of noble blood?"
"What... what are you talking about..."
"Being a teacher and all that is just a pretext. I especially enjoy beating up high-nosed and insolent nobles like you, Young Lady, and listening to their screams. When I can beat you up so legally and openly, where else would there be a pretext like this? They even give me money."
Seeing that smile that made goosebumps rise on the ends of her arms just by looking at it, Diella momentarily held her breath.
Was it a mistake to think that Derek was really acting for Diella's sake in the first place?
Before Diella could answer, Derek kicked Diella's shoulder with his booted foot.
"Kyaat!"
Crash!
Shing
By the time Diella, who had been knocked away, looked up again, Derek had drawn his longsword.
The moonlight reflected off the sharp, cold blade and entered her vision. Diella's fingertips were trembling like crazy.
"You, you, you... are, are you crazy...?"
"I find it unbearably pleasant when arrogant nobles like you, Young Lady, let out splitting screams and suffer. The more they ran wild, not knowing their place in the world, believing only in their own lofty status, the better."
"If, if, if you do this... do you think your life will be safe?"
"What does it matter when there are no witnesses? And anyway, you're of a status to be dragged off to a monastery soon, so who would believe your words, Young Lady? Do you think there's anyone on your side in this mansion?"
As Derek approached with long strides, flicking the tip of his sword, Diella quickly pushed the grassy ground with her hands and scrambled backward.
But trying to escape from a fallen position, she would only be caught quickly.
"Don't worry. Seasoned mercenaries know how to inflict only pain without leaving any aftereffects. The human body has many parts that heal surprisingly quickly. Like the fingernails."
"...Heok... heo..."
"And so what if there are some aftereffects?"
That man walking with long strides, bathed in the moonlight, was surely a madman. Diella felt her whole body begin to tremble like crazy.
She had known from the moment he had slapped her upon meeting that he was not a normal person. In a way, it seemed that all of this had been foreshadowed.
"If such a thing were to happen, it would be enough for me to atone with my death."
"Kya... kyaat...!"
Diella grabbed a handful of dirt and quickly threw it in Derek's eyes.
Swish!
"Keuk."
Derek quickly covered his face with his elbow and blocked the clump of dirt. Taking that opportunity, Diella quickly got up from her spot and ran towards the nearby forest.
In the meadow towards the mansion, she would be caught quickly anyway. Even in that brief moment, Diella had come to the conclusion that she had to escape into the forest.
She had to hide her body in the darkness and, in the bushes, first shake off that madman.
She thought so and ran for a moment.
A floating sensation, as if a wind was gathering in the area, was felt.
FWOOOOSH!
She ran towards the forest, trying to escape somehow. But unable to overcome the sense of unease that surrounded her, when she looked back, she could not help but doubt her own eyes.
A mass of flames, larger than a person.
The influence of Derek, who had gathered mana in the hand that was not holding the sword, seemed to cover the area.
'Wh, wh, what is that...!'
2-Star magic, Fireball.
It was a combat-type magic used even among nobles by those who had gradually become proficient in magic. He had not even done the common chanting.
Even Valerian, who had the most outstanding magical talent among the siblings, had to lock himself in his room for several months to enter 2-Star magic.
The sight of magic of that level coming out of Derek's hand had no sense of reality at all.
No, she could only pray that it wasn't reality.
The other party was just a madman who wanted to get pleasure by catching and beating Diella.
Just like that, a tremendous pressure gathered for a moment, and the ball of fire fired from his hand flew towards Diella.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
Diella threw her body to dodge, not caring about getting scratched.
A huge fireball slammed into the ground right next to where Diella had been standing, and then a pillar of fire shot up for a moment.
KRAAANG!
WHOOSH!
A wave of hot air rushed over her. Eventually, when she looked at the place where the magic had directly hit, it was completely burned, and nothing remained. There were only black ashes that were disappearing with a rustle.
If she had been hit, it would have been instant death or at least near-fatal. That power was clearly felt.
When Diella looked toward Derek with trembling eyes, he was dusting off the hand from which the heat had escaped.
He looked at Diella with his gleaming eyes and then muttered to himself.
"Missed."
Diella had to feel a shiver run down her entire body.
<><><>
Thud, thud!
Just like that, Diella ran towards the forest.
Derek, walking with long strides in the meadow, seemed to be enjoying this situation like a hunt, and he didn't even seem to be in a hurry. Under the shining moonlight, the corners of his mouth, turned up, and his red eyes only evoked a sense of endless fear.
Thump, thud!
Diella ran and then lost strength in her legs and fell. She somehow managed to get up again and succeeded in escaping towards the forest, but she could not completely close the distance.
Rustle! Thud!
She somehow pushed her body into the bushes. But she still had to run further.
However, her legs, trembling with fear, would not listen to her.
'Move...! Move, move, move...! Please...!'
FWOOOSH!
Pababak!
The energy of the flying mana directly hit the surrounding tree branches and shattered them.
1-Star attack magic, Mana Arrow. And it was even a triple shot.
Even among 1-Star magics, the proficiency was different. If she were hit by even one, it was an impact that Diella's frail body could never withstand.
"Did it miss...?"
Derek's eerie voice came from beyond the bushes.
Fortunately, Diella's build was petite. The darkness that was deeply settled over the entire forest was on her side.
All sorts of rodents were moving through the bushes, and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind was full.
In a place like this, it would not be an easy task to find Diella, who was hiding prostrate in the bushes.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
The madman's footsteps reached Diella's ears.
From just beyond the bushes in front of her, he used his sword to cut down branches here and there, searching for Diella.
Diella shoved her hand into her mouth, and, afraid that the sound of her breathing would leak out, she held her breath tightly.
The sight of Derek, humming and searching for places where Diella might be, was like a predatory animal searching for its prey.
Thump.
Eventually, Derek's boots appeared a few handbreadths in front of Diella, who was prostrate in the bushes. The darkness around them was so thick that it was barely visible even with eyes that had adjusted to the dark.
Diella somehow killed the sound of her heart, which felt like it would explode at any moment, and covered her mouth. Even when she was still, her lower lip trembled and her breathing became irregular. She couldn't tell if she was breathing out or in.
After Derek's feet wandered around for a few moments as if searching the area, he eventually moved on towards the deeper part of the forest.
'Heok... heok...'
As the distance began to widen a little, Diella began to have the leisure to organize her thoughts.
'I, I have to escape to the mansion... B, but if I just run out into the meadow without cover, I'll be hit by magic...! Th, then what should I do? R, right now I can hide like this, but...! S, someday I'll be found...!'
The girl, prostrate in the darkness, gripping her head tightly, somehow calmed her bursting heart.
'Calm down, calm down, calm down. There must be a way. There must be a way...!'
Eventually, a large rock came into her sight.
It was almost the size of Diella's head. When she managed to crawl to it and touch the stone, it was quite heavy, but she could somehow lift it.
A truly fortunate thing was that it was the dead of night, when darkness had fallen.
The darkness that was thickly settled over the entire forest would hide Diella's body, which was already petite and easy to hide, even more perfectly. It meant that it was a good environment for a surprise attack.
Against a man of strong build, the frail Diella had no chance of winning.
What's more, if the opponent was really a 2-Star mage, it was highly likely that she wouldn't even be able to resist.
In the end, the answer to her dilemma came down to a surprise attack under the cover of darkness.
If she could somehow launch a surprise attack, she could create an opening, and if she was lucky, she might be able to knock him out.
She would hide her body in the darkness and wait for an opportunity, and then strike him from behind when he was off his guard.
There was no other way to win.
Diella, while her body was trembling, dragged the rock and placed it next to the bushes.
She gripped the ends of the rock with both hands and prepared to lift it at any moment.
And so, in the bushes in the darkness, she sharpened her senses.
But, the more she focused her nerves, the more the fear in her heart also welled up.
Drip, drip, drip.
Tears, formed in her eyes, fell onto the rock.
She bit her lip and held back a choking sound. She didn't even have the energy to wipe away the tears that were falling in clumps.
'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. You can't make a sound of crying.'
She pushed away the rising emotions with reason. When she thought she might die here, a panorama of her life flashed before her eyes.
A time when she used to laugh and chat actively, running around the mansion, and then going out with a canvas and easel to paint landscapes... such an innocent and carefree time came to mind. It was a time when every day was carefree and happy.
What came to mind after that were memories of failure and frustration. And the memory of being left behind among her siblings who were moving ahead. The pitying gazes of her family. The encouraging family. The lack of achievement. Effort, failure, and again failure. Endless failure.
The servants who looked at her with pitying eyes. The gossip that she had nothing special besides her cute appearance. The slander from the noble society beyond, that she was truly fortunate to have been born as a daughter of the House of Duplein.
And, the fact that all she had left was her bloodline. The cold fact that the only thing she could reveal in front of others and have its value proven was this noble bloodline.
'I can do it. I can do it. I can do it...!'
Shaking off the negative memories, Diella gritted her teeth. She would catch that madman and somehow return to the mansion. The darkness in the forest was on Diella's side.
It was the moment she steeled her heart like that.
FWOOOOOSH!
The darkness of the forest, which had been Diella's only ally, began to disappear.
1-Star Transmutation school magic 'Light Generation'
A huge source of light that was blooming from beyond those bushes began to reveal everything around it.
The reason why mages were recognized as the most dependable allies among mercenaries was due to that kind of flexibility to cope with any battlefield situation. In particular, fluid battlefield regulation was Derek's specialty.
Of course, from Diella's perspective, it was just a bolt from the blue.
The darkness that had been in the forest had already completely disappeared.
'Heok...!'
The strategy of hiding in the darkness no longer worked.
It was the moment Diella stood up, having revised her strategy to find cover instead.
The white-haired madman, who was floating a sphere of light in the distance, turned his head sharply towards Diella.
"Found you."
The boy was smiling from ear to ear.
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