Chapter 18 Translator: XZY
Chapter 18: Journey (2) ****
Hwaaaak!
A bluish mana gathered at her fingertips and then completely disappeared.
Aiseline lifted the hem of her dress at the edge of the old-fashioned dueling grounds and, with a graceful smile, greeted her opponent.
"Good work."
Marble statues made by old masters, a gleaming wooden floor, and oak pillars placed on all sides.
On the glossy spectator seats, purple velvet cushions were laid out on each seat. Every single one was a high-quality item, and the surrounding space was generously spaced for the audience who came in with their servants.
At the opposite end of such a luxurious dueling ground, there was a noble young lady who was intimidated. She was the youngest daughter of the Baron of Gleiven.
She had gotten the opportunity for a magic duel with Lady Aiseline, one of the brightest stars in the social circles of Ebelstein, but the match had been decided in less than a minute.
She should have calmed her pounding heart from last night to learn even a little more, but the match had been decided while her eyes were captivated by Lady Aiseline's graceful use of mana. She was greatly disheartened for having ended such a golden opportunity so futilely.
"I hope I can learn a lesson from you next time as well."
Lady Aiseline came down from the platform, receiving the admiring gazes of numerous nobles.
<><><>
If one were to pick the largest city in the western part of the empire, anyone would pick Ebelstein.
True to its nickname, the city of a thousand faces, it was a city with numerous expressions, from the slums to the commercial districts and residential districts.
Among the various districts of Ebelstein, the one that could be called an outstanding flower was the wealthy district. It was a place that was called the noble district among the commoners.
The noble district was a place beyond the northern walls of Ebelstein, a place where all sorts of nobles from the western region of the empire gathered. The moment one entered this place, a completely different scenery unfolded from before.
The shabby wooden houses were gone, and splendid mansions were lined up. In the gardens surrounding each mansion, there were beautifully manicured garden trees, fountains, and old-fashioned statues.
Considering the slums where Derek had stayed, it would not be strange to describe this Ebelstein noble district as a paradise on earth.
Instead of the smell of food waste circulating on the streets, the scent of flowers filled the flowerbeds, and instead of the roads full of mud here and there, well-paved roads were advancing in gentle curves.
The shops lined up between the mansions all handled only the highest quality items, and the carriages roaming the streets were all luxuriously decorated carriages for distinguished guests.
If one looked up at the wide-open blue sky while roaming among the cherry blossom trees in bloom, the occasionally fluttering petals were freely swimming among the beautiful gardens.
The attire of the nobles who came and went on the streets was also dazzling.
Male nobles wore jackets made of high-quality brocade and vests with splendid patterns. Female nobles always dressed up in silk dresses decorated with jewels.
Not a single person could be found in a shabby state. It was a dignity that was reminiscent of a royal court.
And so, looking at the square where the warm sunlight was shining down, it was not strange to think that one might have entered another world. Considering the dark and gloomy scenery of the slums, the sense of disparity was indescribable.
"Lady Aiseline seems to be in a very good mood recently. Until the last meeting, she was full of worries, so I was concerned that her jade-like skin might be flawed."
"Was it that obvious? I didn't want to cause worry... but still, most of my worries have been resolved, so I feel much lighter."
On one side of the central street of such a noble district.
Noble young ladies were gathered and sitting in a teahouse decorated with pretty flowers.
After finishing the magic duel practice that had been in the morning, those who knew each other had gathered to have a conversation.
Everyone who passed by them could not help but cast a glance.
The members were the ones who received the most admiring gazes among the nobles of this Ebelstein.
Lady Denise of the Ducal House of Beltus.
Lady Aiseline of the Ducal House of Duplein.
Lady Elente of the County of Belmeade.
The young ladies of the families that would be unanimously chosen if one were to pick the three most influential families among the noble families of the western empire were gathered and sitting. They had not gathered for any great purpose, but were in a relationship where they interacted on a daily basis.
─Rosea Salon.
It was a social club formed around the nobles who had the three families at their backs. They would gather and sit, exchange discourses on magic, sometimes do art activities together, or do light exercise.
The Rosea Salon was the most prestigious among the magic salons that had sprung up around the social circles.
Numerous members of the noble families of Ebelstein would try to get a foot in this meeting, because it was a social club where distinguished guests who were directly involved in power gathered, and a place where the roses of the social circles gathered.
Although it professed to be a magic salon, in fact, magic was only a part of it, and they exchanged on art, culture, and current affairs in general. As it was such a place, all sorts of stories would come out. For example, about the various rumors circulating in the noble families.
"I was so worried when I heard the rumor that Lady Aiseline was going around outside the noble district and looking for people. Especially since the area near the slums or the tavern street is a rough place, so please always be careful of your conduct."
"...Thank you for your concern. Actually, I had to find someone who could teach my younger sister, Diella, magic."
"Lady Diella... of the Duplein family..."
Lady Denise, who was lifting her teacup in the warm sunlight, asked back cautiously.
Even Lady Aiseline, who was said to be perfect in everything, was not entirely without a flaw. It was her younger sister.
It was not good for a rumor to spread that a young lady of one's own family was a hooligan, so the family usually tried to keep it quiet. However, there was a limit.
Among the servants who had worked in the Duplein family and left, or the magic teachers who had tried to teach her, Diella's notoriety was already well-known.
She could not carelessly talk about such rumors in front of Aiseline, but it was unexpected that Aiseline had brought it up first.
"I stopped by the mansion a while ago and saw Diella, and she had become such a graceful lady that I could hardly recognize her. She said she had even manifested 1-Star magic... and her conduct was so graceful that I thought I had to work harder."
"...Lady Diella?"
"Yes. Even as her older sister, seeing her changed like a different person... I was so happy, as if I was seeing that innocent child of her childhood. That's why these days, I hum to myself even when I'm just sitting still, and a smile comes to my face for no reason, and I get an excited feeling. I'm always careful not to look too frivolous."
Looking at the happy Lady Aiseline, she had a smile as if a flower was blooming.
Lady Elente, who was sitting next to her, quietly drinking tea and looking through various newsletters, glanced sideways.
Lady Elente, with her cold impression and long, glossy red hair, tilted her head for a moment, then soon asked in a calm voice.
"It seems you've found a good magic teacher?"
"Yes. His status and level are not outstanding for a magic teacher... but it seems his ability to teach people is truly outstanding. I never imagined he could lead Diella so well in such a short time."
"I see. They say that finding a magic teacher these days is harder than picking stars from the sky, so Lady Aiseline has made a really big contribution."
"What did I do? It was all Derek-ssi's work. Ah, Derek is the name of that magic teacher. He's from a mercenary background, who used to work at a place called the Veldern Mercenary Corps, and his magic skills are so outstanding that the way he utilizes mana itself is also very unique─"
From a mercenary background.
Such a word was mixed in among the words of Lady Aiseline, who was excitedly explaining about Derek.
At that word, Lady Elente and Lady Denise could not help but flinch. The person teaching the young lady of the Duplein family, who feared no one under the sky, was from a mere bottom-of-the-barrel mercenary background.
Lady Aiseline was a person whose standards for judging people were generous and unbiased, but the two young ladies of the Rosea Salon were not quite so. They just smiled awkwardly.
However, Lady Elente's reaction was subtly different.
'Diella Katarina Duplein... isn't she the infamous hooligan the head chef was talking about...?'
The head chef of the County of Belmeade, where Lady Elente was, was from the Duplein family. He was a person who had been beaten up and kicked out after serving Diella's soup too hot.
That fat head chef harbored a deep grudge against Diella. He had been kicked out and had lived a wandering life until the County of Belmeade had taken him in. Now he was a person who was loyal to the County of Belmeade with a heart full of gratitude.
'Just from what I've heard, it seems there was no such devil... and she not only reformed such a person, but also made her a 1-Star mage...?'
To have made a person who was said not to know how to handle even a single bit of mana into a 1-Star mage in such a short time.
No matter how you looked at it, it was hard to believe, but the source of the information was Lady Aiseline.
Lady Elente knew well that Lady Aiseline was not a person who would bluff.
Her gaze became even sharper.
Lady Elente was a person who never missed a story about a useful talent.
<><><>
Miriella was feeling both joy and frustration at the same time.
It had been a long time since she had tasted such ambivalent feelings in her life, so she could not bring herself to say anything, even with her beloved daughter Diella in front of her.
"They say these are tea leaves from the Dellerbail Teahouse in Ebelstein. Aiseline Unnie gave them to me separately, and when I took them out and savored them after a long time, the fragrance was still there."
The noble lady's reception room.
Diella, who had come with short, quick steps after finishing all of today's liberal arts classes, sat demurely at the tea table. And then she began to speak in a graceful tone.
What more could be said? That appearance was the appearance of Diella, full of the dignity of a young lady, that the Duchess Miriella had so longed for.
She already had a good model named Aiseline nearby, and there were plenty of etiquette books to refer to.
She had received a little etiquette lesson before she had gone astray, and her master, Derek, was not entirely ignorant of the etiquette between nobles. When all these factors were combined, she was able to act like a noble family's young lady with just the knowledge she had.
She hadn't done it until now because she was crooked, not because she couldn't.
Miriella was not unaware of that fact, but... she had not thought that he would be able to fix a person so thoroughly.
"D-Diella. It seems you've studied etiquette on your own."
"Yes. I studied on my own, and Derek taught me a little. I can't stay like a child forever, can I."
"...Yes. It's very commendable that you studied on your own."
"Yes. I studied on my own, and Derek also taught me."
"Were there any difficult parts while studying on your own?"
"There were quite a few parts that I got stuck on, but Derek knew them better than I thought."
Derek, Derek, Derek.
The way she subtly emphasized Derek's contribution was meaningful. Miriella suppressed the urge to grab the back of her neck.
Derek had taught Diella what the conduct of a noble young lady was. Whether that was actually the case or not, Diella was saying so.
Derek was not an etiquette instructor. The knowledge he had would be meager.
In fact, Diella's etiquette was at a very basic level, but... it was Diella of all people. The very Diella who had been going through a period of storm and stress had begun to acquire dignity.
She remembered the sight of all the servants she had encountered while walking to the reception room, staring as if their eyeballs would pop out. They had blinked their eyes or pinched their own cheeks when they saw Diella acting with dignity.
She could easily see what kind of rumor would spread in the mansion soon.
'The new master, Derek, has changed Diella to be dignified.'
'It's Derek, as expected.'
'I thought no one would be able to fix that hooligan, but he is a truly great master.'
It was not difficult to imagine such evaluations pouring in. That meant that the very pretext for Miriella to find fault and kick Derek out would disappear.
Hadn't she consistently said that the reason she was against appointing Derek was because the dignity of a noble would be damaged?
If Diella herself showed that she was properly learning the etiquette of a noble like this, Miriella's right to speak would be thrown to the ground.
Whichever way you looked at it, it was a checkmate.
Miriella felt as if her mind was going blank.
<><><>
[ List of Acquired Magic ]
✦ Combat Magic
★☆☆☆☆☆ Mana Arrow
★☆☆☆☆☆ Shockwave
★☆☆☆☆☆ Power Manifestation
★★☆☆☆☆ Fireball
✦ Transmutation Magic
★☆☆☆☆☆ Light Generation
★★☆☆☆☆ Earth Wall
✦ Illusion Magic
★☆☆☆☆☆ Sound Dampening
★★☆☆☆☆ Auditory Hallucination
★★☆☆☆☆ Confusion
✦ Summoning Magic
★☆☆☆☆☆ Summon - Guiding Fairy
✦ Detection Magic
★☆☆☆☆☆ Direction Sense
★★☆☆☆☆ Clairvoyance
★★☆☆☆☆ Life Detection
Derek was diligently studying a 3-Star grimoire that he had received permission to view and had brought to his personal room table.
However, even for Derek, who was born with an extraordinary magical talent among commoners, he could not easily master 3-Star magic at this age.
The ones who had reached 3-Star among commoners were all elderly gentlemen or old mages who had lived their entire lives with magic. It might have been a bit too high a level for the young Derek.
'Hmm... the knowledge of the Scholastic School is indeed a bit crude. Learning it while using it in practical combat is the most efficient for me... but it's a bit difficult in this environment.'
Most of the magic he had learned so far had been quickly mastered because he had used it while fighting in practical combat as a mercenary.
Most Wild School mages were like that.
Even while feeling frustrated as if he was stuck, Derek was feeling a strange sense of pleasure.
He didn't know the reason, but he had a strange feeling that he could reach 3-Star if he twisted his body and studied somehow. It was a strange intuition that welled up only within himself, for which he could not give any logical reason.
Was it said that a mage and the desire for achievement could not be separated?
He was seriously realizing the words his master, Katia, had said.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door of Derek's personal room. Before Derek could even answer, the door was flung open, and a sturdy man strode in.
It was the second son of the Ducal House of Duplein, Reigh.
He strode in, swinging his arms, which were covered in brawny muscles, and stood firmly, looking at Derek.
"What is it."
"...I came to talk about Diella."
"...?"
Derek closed the book and placed it on the table.
Reigh, who had confirmed with a glance that the book was a 3-Star grimoire, flinched.
He wondered why he was reading a 3-Star grimoire that he couldn't even understand, but then Reigh suddenly remembered what the Grand Duke of Duplein had said.
Derek's magical level was, for now, on a different level from Reigh's.
Whether Reigh, who had inherited the blood of Duplein, would be able to surpass him in the future or not, for now, their levels were different, so he should not try to challenge him rashly. At best, only someone like Valerian could hold a conversation with him.
He was reminded of the fact that the Grand Duke's words might not have been empty. Above all, from 3-Star grimoires onwards, it was impossible to even view them without the Grand Duke's permission.
Reigh narrowed his brow once, then soon sat on the edge of the table opposite where Derek was sitting.
His appearance was so serious that Derek also corrected his posture.
"To come all the way to me to ask... what is it?"
"...Listen without misunderstanding."
"Yes."
"..."
Reigh asked with a very serious face.
"These days, teenage girls... what do they like?"
"..."
"Would they like it if I made a doll of them through something like embroidery?"
"That is absolutely not a good idea."
Derek, who had remembered the twisted form of horror that Valerian had made, hastily stopped Reigh.
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