Magic (2)
Aiselin was feeling intimidated.
Ever since she returned to the Ebelstein residence, her expression had remained dark, and although the servants were all worried when they saw her like that, she forced herself to smile.
It was her first time being so openly rejected by someone.
–"There is nothing more that Young Lady Aiselin can learn from me."
Derrick's words contained many meanings.
Young ladies whose magic skill had not yet fully matured often carried diverse possibilities. However, Aiselin in particular had a very definite magic world of her own.
She was following a growth curve that was practically the textbook example of Noble Society Discipline School magic.
Derrick, a mage from the Wild School, had a free-spirited way of using mana, and that might instead slow down her growth.
She could not help but nod at Derrick's opinion, but even so, she could not accept it so easily.
'When I think about it, I've always just been walking the proper path.'
It felt as though she was blankly staring at birds outside a cage.
They said that people always long for what they do not have. Aiselin was a girl admired by everyone, but she herself longed for what everyone else possessed. That was freedom.
There was no need to look far. Her own younger sister, Delia, was the very symbol of that freedom.
That young painter who casually scattered paint across a canvas and captured the scenery of the world was using magic in a free-spirited way just like Derrick.
Though she had been born into a noble family, she had absorbed the Wild School way of using mana on her own, and it felt as though she was heading toward some realm that Aiselin could not reach.
'I want to experience magic outside the system too.....'
Aiselin muttered to herself while blankly looking out the window.
If you looked out the window from Aiselin's residence, which was built atop a large hill, the vast panorama of Ebelstein would come into view.
Starting from the luxurious and splendid Noble Society districts, to the many districts where countless commoners struggled to survive together, and beyond the city wall, wide grasslands and granaries stretched out broadly.
The world was this wide, and yet Aiselin could count on one hand the number of times she had gone outside her own cradle.
Because she had been born in the highest position, there was nowhere lower she could go. That was the girl's position.
"A letter has arrived from the main house. They say that next week Sir Valerian will hold his departure ceremony. Young Master Raig will also accompany him, so it seems it will be a bigger event than expected."
"Yes, I've heard. Since it's Orabeoni Valerian's first departure ceremony, I should prepare a good present....."
When the maid delivered the news from the main house, Aiselin let out a deep sigh and gathered her complicated thoughts.
The story that the first and second sons of the Duplein family would head north of the territory to conquer the White Labyrinth Zone had already reached Ebelstein.
Duke Duplein had entrusted the long-cherished project of developing the White Zone to his two most reliable sons.
The White Zone was a place filled with all kinds of extremely dangerous labyrinths. That meant it would also be filled with all kinds of treasures that had not yet been discovered. There were especially many rumors that historical materials about ancient corpse magic and even the staff of Rozin, a 5-star Summoning-type mage, were sleeping there.
Hoping that her two Orabeoni would return with good news, she thought she should choose a good present.
"I should go out to the shopping district. Since it's an important present, I should see it and choose it myself."
Aiselin stood up while pulling the hem of her dark blue dress.
She was far too busy a person to remain quietly dejected.
*
"Th, this isn't the seal of the Duplein family? You, are you under the protection of the Duplein family?"
"Not to the point of protection..... I once accepted a request from that family for a short time in the past. I received it as a reward back then."
Derrick was showing the Duplein seal he had received from Valerian to a shop owner in the Noble Society district.
There was something he wanted to take care of before heading to Denise's residence today as well.
"Seeing that it has Sir Valerian's crest engraved on it, it's definitely something you received from him in person..... I can show you the items that are supplied exclusively to the Duplein family as well."
The shopping street in the Ebelstein Noble Society district.
From the atmosphere alone, it was different from the shopping street where commoners came and went. No matter which shop you chose to enter, antique carpets and curtains were the standard, the inside of the store was filled with the pleasant scent of incense candles, and the display shelves were always kept neat and tidy.
Food, magic items, equipment, clothes, books.... there was not a single speck of dust anywhere.
Thinking about how in the commoners' shop districts you had to blow away the dust first no matter where you went or what you looked at, you could not help but feel the gap.
At one corner of that shopping street, he had just shown the Duplein family seal. The shop owner widened his eyes in surprise.
The man he had thought was just an unremarkable mercenary was someone connected to the Duplein family.
Merchants, by nature, lived by connections and died by connections.
If an opportunity came to maintain even the slightest connection with such a noble family, they were ready to give even their liver and gallbladder.
"I'd like to purchase some magic items. Do you also deal in things like a wand or a staff?"
"There are many magic items, but of course wands and staffs are nothing but high-priced goods. Even noble lords come carrying gold coins after making up their minds to buy them. Can you afford something like that?"
"Hm..... I guess I should at least look at the price first."
Derrick followed the shop owner into a space deeper inside the store. It seemed to be a space only guided guests of honor were allowed into.
The items displayed outside were already high-grade goods, but the deeper they went inside, the more special-looking items poured out in droves. It seemed that even the merchant's personal collection was mixed in.
"Ho....."
Derrick's eyes were burning as he went deeper into the shop in the Noble Society district.
There were cloaks that smoothed the flow of mana, elixirs that replenished mana all at once, and even a precious 3-star Magic Book was on display.
As a rare-item merchant who held a great many precious goods, he must have had great pride in his collection. When Derrick looked around with eyes full of curiosity, the old, fat merchant put on a satisfied smile.
"Duke Duplein has visited once or twice as well. The Duke personally paid handsomely for these precious goods. You won't see things like these easily anywhere else."
"How much are the wand or the staff?"
".... Right now, there are only two items in the shop as merchandise. 'Eye of Salas' from the Alonden Academy in the northern continent, and 'Andante' brought from the Drest Academy in the southwest. One is a wand and one is a staff. Both are items that cost hundreds of gold coins. It's about the price of an entire mansion."
Magic weapons often each had their own unique names.
That was because most of them were items created by famous Transformation-type mages who had poured their full effort into them.
Transformation-type mages who handled things like alchemy, magic weapon crafting, elemental stone crafting, and mana stone crafting all considered it a great honor for their products to be called 'masterpieces'. That was why famous Transformation-type mages always gave unique names to their works.
There was nothing more unsightly than slapping grandiose names onto worthless trash, but famous works were talked about for a long, long time and elevated the fame of their creators.
The most famous wand was 'Dawn', made by the 5-star Transformation-type mage Dalrok, and the most famous staff was 'Light of the Empire', made by the 6-star Transformation-type mage Kohela.
It was known that 'Dawn' was owned by Sir Melberot, the hegemon of the north, and 'Light of the Empire' was owned by Emperor Gertrel. Both were nothing more than pies in the sky.
'I'm not even hoping for something of that level..... but even just one wand in this shop has a ridiculous price.'
Magic weapons were items that only mages of 3-star or higher could properly handle.
They were already rare items, and those who wanted them were all people who were something special. It was no wonder that such absurd prices were formed.
'I knew they were expensive, but seeing them in person, I can't even think about it.'
Derrick nodded his head a few times and quietly stared at the staff with its magnificent appearance.
Anyway, if he could have a magic weapon, he would be able to achieve a higher realm of magic achievement.
Now that he had reached the realm of 3-star, his desire for a magic weapon felt even stronger.
Like that, Derrick fell into thought for a while as he looked at the displayed weapons. Then, when it was time to carry out his next schedule, he hurriedly left the shop.
*
–Thump, thump, thump.
Derrick was striding across Denise's residence, which was located in the outermost area of the Ebelstein Noble Society district.
Usually, the private residence of a Young Lady from one of the three great noble families would have luxurious corridors. Ellente's residence was filled with all kinds of artworks, to the point where you could not tell whether this was a Young Lady's residence or a museum.
However, Denise's residence was more plain than expected. It felt like only the necessities were gathered. It seemed that Denise's style of controlling unnecessary expenses was reflected in the residence as well.
Derrick was trudging straight across the corridor, and behind him, Bella was following with a troubled expression.
Bella, the maid who had taken care of Denise the longest, spoke to Derrick in a worried tone, asking him to move a little more slowly, but Derrick showed no consideration at all.
Rather, it was the servants of the residence who were watching Derrick's mood. In fact, he was in a position where he could be that confident.
Derrick was a talent that the Beltus family had come to ask for first, even going so far as to beg.
He was not someone who had begged to be accepted, but someone they had humbly asked to come, and he had personally come, so there was no need for him to watch anyone's mood.
On top of that, wasn't it Denise herself who had gone all the way to the Laspa Great Cave to beg Derrick to please act as her teacher just once? No matter how much she regretted it later, that one fact would not change.
–"It would be good to get along with all three great noble families. It will depend on how the future flows, but surely some families will greatly decline, and some families will greatly rise."
–"However, there is no need to devote yourself entirely to any one place. Rather, it would be best if you could ride the lines and make them anxious. That way, your value will rise, and you will be recognized everywhere."
It was advice from his master, Drest Wolftail.
He, who had carefully examined the many branching futures one by one, advised Derrick, a commoner-born mage, to first get close to the nobles. He knew their ways of thinking well.
Unless you held a special grudge against nobles, there was no great harm in getting close to them.
Duke Duplein had even closed his eyes to Derrick's realm of magic. No matter how outstanding a commoner's magic achievement was, if the relationship with the family was favorable, they would not openly become hostile.
This was especially true for the three great noble families. If you built up debts with them and became their benefactor, there was a high chance they would become reliable allies rather than enemies in the future. Therefore, if you wanted to build up a higher realm of magic, it was good to maintain smooth relationships with nobles.
In the end, there was only one way for a commoner mage to reach a high realm without any checks. You just had to have powerful high-ranking nobles, whom even nobles themselves feared, backing you.
He had at least somewhat opened a path with the Duplein family and the Belmiard family. Then all that was left was the Beltus family.
The reason Derrick had answered that he would teach Young Lady Denise was largely because of this aspect. However, if you asked whether that was the only reason, that was not the case either.
–"I hate magic."
Denise had not even properly licked the entrance of the academic discipline called magic, and yet she regarded the profound world of magic as nothing more than a means of display for old-fashioned power-mongers. Derrick found that extremely displeasing.
So, if you asked whether his pride had been scratched, Derrick had to admit it. It had been scratched.
If someone talked about how magic was no big deal in front of a person who was immersed in magic all day long, blood vessels would inevitably bulge.
How much could she have lived, to talk about nihilism with such a transcendent view of the world? Only people like Drest, who had experienced a tumultuous life, had the right to talk about the futility of life and time.
He wanted to fix that girl's childishness, who, after experiencing just a few disappointments, looked at the world with indifferent eyes.
Denise, who did not know the profundity and beauty of magic, was truly pitiful.
Like that, Derrick was emitting a fiery will for the first time in a long while.
–Step, step, step.
Derrick confidently walked to the center of Denise's residence, climbed the central staircase of the main hall, approached the bedroom where she was sleeping, and knocked.
"Young Lady Denise usually sleeps through the morning. She must be sleeping soundly even now....."
"I see."
–Bang.
And then Derrick casually opened the door and went in.
With the thick curtains drawn, he could see Denise sleeping soundly in the darkness at a glance.
She had spread her silver-gray hair like a blanket, and with a half-read romance novel placed by her pillow, she was breathing softly, looking just like a baby bird.
When he saw her smacking her lips cutely as if having a pleasant dream, she really was just an ordinary girl of that age when she slept.
Derrick walked right in and shouted.
"Wake up! Wake up! The sun is already high in the sky, Young Lady!"
"Hyaaaak!"
If he wanted to make Denise into a proper person, he had to first move up her wake-up time.
Derrick raised his voice without hesitation, walked into the room, and swept away all the heavy curtains by the window.
Bright midday sunlight mercilessly invaded Denise's dark room.
"Kyaaak! It's bright! Wh, what is this!"
"Since it's morning, let's air out the room and get some sunlight! Are we children of darkness or something?"
"De, Derrick?! What is this! To, today is the weekend! I don't have to go to the Rosea Salon, and there's no Academy schedule either!"
"Yes, it is the weekend. But the sun is already high in the sky, so you can't just keep sleeping, can you?"
"O, on weekends, isn't it okay to rest a bit!"
Derrick did not care even if Denise raised her voice.
The story had already reached Duke Beltus, and even his letter of permission had arrived. At this point in time, Derrick's employer was not Denise, but Duke Beltus.
"Yes. On weekends, you should rest. I'm not saying you shouldn't, Young Lady Denise."
"Th, then what is it?"
"Even if we rest, we should at least rest while doing the basics. Get some sunlight, wake up early and exercise a bit, get some sunlight again, and finish up basic tasks in advance. Wouldn't that be good?"
"…"
"Isn't it enough to just do the basics properly? I was hired as a teacher, but I'm also a person. You know very well that if you just keep the basics, I won't interfere unnecessarily, right?"
Denise already felt like her mind was getting hazy.
Although the sun was high in the sky, for Denise, it was no different from the middle of the night.
For Denise, who usually spent weekends sleeping all day or just reading novels, Derrick's upright lifestyle cycle was no different from poison.
"Derrick, weren't you hired as my magic instructor? You can't tell me what to do with my life too.....!"
"Young Lady Denise. Do you know what the foundation of magic is? It starts from a healthy body and a sound mind! I was hired as a magic instructor, and I will do anything for your magic achievement!"
"Wi, with that kind of logic that sounds like you're just sticking things together wherever, trying to interfere with me.....!"
Before Denise could finish speaking, Derrick placed Duke Beltus's letter on the table.
It was already a situation where, with Denise's recommendation, Derrick had been appointed as her magic instructor. He was her teacher, properly approved by Duke Beltus.
Who had made that recommendation? Denise herself.
Denise's complexion was turning pale.
"I will tell you today's schedule. First, please get up quickly, finish breakfast, and then we will check the level of your Search-type magic. And since you also need to learn Combat-type elemental magic, we will start with basic mana training, and in the afternoon there will also be physical training. Physical strength is the foundation of everything."
"... You even made a timetable?"
"When I do things, I do them properly. The schedule is set all the way to the evening, so please look it over first."
It was a hellish curriculum that had been enough to exhaust even Young Lady Ellente, who burned with desire for achievement and will.
Of course, he would not demand a schedule as harsh as the one he had demanded from Ellente, but for Denise, even this was enough to make her feel like she had already entered the entrance to hell.
"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to handle all of this alone. I'll work hard right next to you, so let's work together to become higher-rank mages. I will personally show you how reassuring it is to have a pacemaker by your side."
"Derrick.... I, I'm sorry..... I acted too selfishly at the Laspa Great Cave, didn't I? I apologized last time too, but.... this time I'll apologize properly. I respect your will, and I think your intentions are also very noble. So please accept my apology....?"
"An apology? Why are you apologizing? It is not good for the Young Lady of the Beltus family to easily bow her head to a lowly commoner. Please act in a way befitting your status. A noble family's Young Lady must always be proud."
Derrick's eyes were already filled with madness.
Denise realized it.
This boy was not moving for such simple reasons as wanting an apology from her or wanting to break her pride.
He did not care about such things at all. He was just purely doing his duty.
Like that, Denise was dragged out by Derrick, finished breakfast, and entered magic training.
There was no way to refuse.
Derrick was someone who had gone through the proper procedures with Duke Beltus and had entered as an officially recognized teacher. The servants could not stop him either.
That boy, who was tightly bound with the will to properly recite how profound and wonderful magic was, did not care at all about Denise's face, which was turning into the shape of a dying corpse.
"Young Lady Denise, try to awaken the feeling of making the shape of mana more concrete. It may be a bit tiring, but if you repeat and practice it all day, you will succeed a few times."
"Today, we will run around the garden of the residence a bit. As I said, physical strength is the source of everything. Don't worry, I will run together with you. There will be no danger."
"Romance novels are fine, but it would be good to thoroughly read books about the history of mages today or tomorrow. When class time comes tomorrow, I will ask you about the contents. You don't need much, just skim through the history from the Alantara Great War to the era of the Dawn War. I will point out the parts you need to memorize."
"Let's also start proficiency training in the basics of Transformation-type magic by tomorrow. It won't be too difficult. However, since there is a lot of repetitive training, you will have to concentrate for roughly three to four hours. Please be sure to get a good night's sleep tonight."
When she came to her senses, the sun had set and the moon was out.
A whole day had clearly passed, but she could not tell how it had passed.
Denise lay down on the bed with her whole body aching.
Bella brought her a cup of herb tea that was good for recovering from fatigue, with a worried face.
"Bella..... I..... I can't breathe..."
"A, are you okay, Young Lady Denise? If you don't at least loosen your muscles a bit before sleeping, you'll get muscle pain tomorrow."
"I, I can't live like this. Spending all day in the sunlight like this..... my body is going to evaporate and disappear like smoke....."
"Young Lady Denise....."
Bella wanted to say that people did not die that easily, but it felt like it would only make things worse, so she quietly lowered her head.
"Ho, somehow I have to dismiss that crazy magic instructor. Even if I have to look through the documents separately..... right away....."
"W, well..... as I told you, since it's a matter that has already been reported to Duke Beltus, the authority to dismiss that man is essentially with His Grace, the Duke."
"Then I'll at least make a separate suggestion to Father....."
"….."
Bella's expression darkened. Denise felt like she understood what that expression meant.
Derrick was a talent that all three great families were eyeing greedily.
He was a talent they had gone to great lengths to get, so Duke Beltus would not easily hand him over to another family.
That was because Duke Beltus was sensitive to power struggles between families.
If he caused trouble or did something malicious, they might be able to catch him on something and throw him out.
However, what Derrick, the upright man, demanded was always nothing but sound and proper things.
The scariest people in the world were those who spoke only correct theory. Because it was impossible to refute.
–Bang.
At that moment, that very Derrick opened Denise's door and came in again.
Even though he had looked over Denise's magic all day and even did physical training together, Derrick did not seem to have accumulated any fatigue at all.
On the other hand, Denise was already half a corpse.
"Young Lady Denise."
"Hiiik.....! Wh, what! It's already this late and you still haven't gone back?!"
Denise hugged her knees and pushed her body into the corner of the bed.
She was trembling like a baby bird that had lost its mother.
"Is there still something left?! I worked hard enough today.....!"
"Ah, of course we will finish here for today. Overdoing it is not good for your body either."
"Th, really…?"
"I'll just check tomorrow's early morning schedule and then I'll return to my quarters for today. Tomorrow, before the sun rises, you need to learn how to handle mana tinged with dark adaptation, so please make sure to wake up before dawn at the latest. Understanding that subtle difference in mana will be a big help later."
"…"
"You don't have to worry about oversleeping. I'll come wake you up early. If you go to sleep right now, you'll be able to sleep for more than five hours."
Derrick clenched both fists tightly and encouraged Denise.
"Then let's work hard again tomorrow! Fighting!"
With such blazing will, Derrick gave a polite bow and went home.
There would be no more seeing Derrick today. Of course, with his steel-like stamina, he would come back to the residence early in the morning, so it would only be a few hours.
"…"
Now, it was impossible to dismiss him.
Duke Beltus would never allow it.
She should have realized long ago that while hiring was done at her own discretion, dismissal was not.
Denise wanted to die.