Chapter 7 Translator: XZY
Chapter 7: Duplein (4) ***
"Still, I can see why you conduct yourself that way. It is true that excessive talent can sometimes gnaw away at its owner."
The Duke of Duplein did not speak at length. He was merely scratching his quill again, resting his chin on one arm.
It felt as if he had some inkling as to why Derek was hiding his skills.
'At least 4-Star or higher detection magic.'
Derek furrowed his brow. In any case, he did not feel any particular hostility from the Duke of Duplein.
Each noble had their own way of treating commoners, so it seemed there was no reason to try to react proactively at this point.
Still, he couldn't help the wariness blooming in a corner of his heart. Derek did not yet know what kind of person the Duke of Duplein was.
"If I have been discourteous, I offer my apologies."
"No. It is enough that I know you are not some riffraff. However, judging by your age and your attire, you don't seem to be someone who usually teaches magic."
"I am a mercenary."
"Right. So now, is the ducal estate of Duplein going to be letting in even mercenaries from the tavern street?"
There was surprisingly little emotion in the Duke of Duplein's sharp tone.
Derek noticed that the Duke had been gauging his worth.
He was a man in a position to command countless vassals under him.
The ability to read the measure of a person's worth in an instant was more important than anything else.
"Since it is a person Aiseline has chosen, I will not say anything more. I will grant permission to enter the annex of the mansion where Diella resides. Have a maid guide you separately."
"Thank you."
"You may go."
After waving a hand at Derek like that, the Duke of Duplein turned his gaze back to the documents piled high on his office desk.
He was the master of this massive ducal domain. There were far too many things piled up that he had to think about and deal with.
However, Derek stood with his hands clasped behind his back, not leaving the office.
The Duke of Duplein glanced at the documents a few times, and then eventually raised his head again and spoke.
"What are you doing? I told you to leave."
"There is something I must ask Your Grace the Duke."
"What?"
"Your Grace the Duke. I am a mercenary. Mercenaries are those who make it a virtue to surely complete the work they are commissioned to do."
Derek spoke in a quiet tone, as if whispering, with his gaze lowered.
"Lady Aiseline has given me a request. To help Lady Diella learn magic, and to enable her to proudly become a member of high society as a noble."
"Why are you stating such obvious things?"
"Therefore, there is something I must earnestly ask Your Grace the Duke."
The Duke of Duplein frowned and looked at Derek.
It was not a common thing for a mere commoner to state his personal opinion like this in front of the Grand Duke of a nation.
If the content was trivial, he could be punished for that alone. Such was the difference in status.
However, Derek's expression was resolute.
<><><>
After offering her greetings to the Duke, Lady Aiseline entered a private reception room and served tea to Jayden.
Aiseline's personal maid carefully brewed high-quality tea and presented it before Jayden, but such a girlish teacup did not suit the rough mercenary.
Jayden let out an awkward laugh and, with a hand full of lean muscle, lifted the teacup and took a sip.
"For this request, it seems there won't be a particular need for me to do anything. I will accompany you when Lady Aiseline finishes her schedule at the mansion and returns to Ebelstein."
"Will you? It was very reassuring to have the leader of the Veldern Mercenary Corps come in person."
"Haha. You do not need to show such courtesy to a small-time mercenary corps like this. Lady Aiseline, you are truly generous of heart."
Lady Aiseline, sitting in a corner of the reception room, looked like a single flower.
The hem of her dress, from which a refreshing aura flowed, was clearly everyday wear, yet her appearance was so beautiful that it felt splendid. However, the worry that filled her face was greatly spoiling that graceful beauty.
"Valerian Orabeoni's expression was not very good. If he was offended, I will apologize."
"No. It must not have been very pleasant to let a mercenary into a magnificent ducal estate like this in the first place. I understand completely. Derek will probably have a harder time than me."
"I brought him based on my judgment, but I'm anxious about whether Derek-ssi will be able to handle Diella."
"Well, I don't know what kind of person Lady Diella is... so I don't have anything to say either."
Now that she was back at the ducal estate, Lady Aiseline seemed very anxious.
It must have been quite some time that she had been putting in requests to various mercenary corps to find a capable mage. She must have spent a good deal of time and money, and it seemed she hadn't neglected her own high society studies in the meantime.
Jayden looked at Aiseline for a moment, and then eventually let out a pitying smile.
"Why did you bring Derek?"
"...Was it too hasty a decision?"
"No. That's not what I mean. I've worked with that kid for a long time, and he is certainly a calm and capable fellow, unbecoming of his age."
Jayden let out a laugh as if he had become much more at ease, and continued to speak to allay Lady Aiseline's worries.
"It's just that I was a little curious if you, Lady Aiseline, had thought so as well."
"Well... Derek-ssi is from a mercenary background, but I got the feeling that he strangely knew a bit about the speech and culture of nobles."
"That would be the influence of his master. I understand that kid's master was a fallen noble who was quite successful in the past."
"I see. In any case, for a mercenary, he doesn't have that roughness or tenacious feeling... and he also has a good-natured impression... so I thought he might be able to persuade and guide Diella well."
Certainly, by the standards of the tenacious mercenary world, Derek seemed to be a rather sensible and good-natured person.
Not only that, but his magical achievements were also fast. Although his star-rank was still weak, the important point was that he was not that far apart in age from Diella.
Mages of 4-Star or higher, who had learned 1- and 2-Star magic decades ago, do not easily understand the position of those who are just beginning to learn magic.
Therefore, she had thought that people like Derek might be able to display more ability in this area.
Upon hearing Lady Aiseline's explanation, Jayden let out a laugh.
"Hoho. Lady Aiseline, you seem to be a truly sincere and upright person. That gaze of yours, which looks at everyone forthrightly, must be what brings out the character that makes people follow you."
"You don't need to praise me so excessively."
"Not at all. However... may I, a mere commoner who has roamed a few battlefields here and there, say something a little presumptuous?"
The expression of Jayden, who had been laughing heartily, became a layer heavier. He was still smiling a good-natured smile, but the atmosphere was quite different.
Lady Aiseline knew that Jayden was a seasoned veteran who had been through all sorts of hardships. The frivolous attitude he showed was to skillfully hide his deep inner thoughts.
"What do you think is the most important quality for a mercenary who constantly crosses perilous battlefields?"
"...I'm not sure."
"Decisiveness... or courage. You can teach everything else, but you can't teach that."
Jayden swiped a finger over the floral teacup that didn't suit him at all, and then eventually placed it back on the reception table.
"That kid Derek is a mage who grew up on the streets. And he has been working as a mercenary since before he came of age. Do you think a street-born mercenary like that survived with just grace and good nature?"
"Pardon?"
"Lady Aiseline, you will have to learn a little more about how to see through people."
<><><>
Creek
When he closed the door of the Duke's reception room and came out, there was a maid waiting in the hallway.
The maid bowed her head and spoke to Derek in a polite voice.
"I have heard the story from the head of the ladies-in-waiting. I will guide you to the annex where Lady Diella is staying."
"Does Lady Diella reside separately in an annex?"
"Yes. That is correct. In the past, she used a room in the main building of the mansion, but due to circumstances..."
He could guess what those circumstances were. It would have been difficult to keep a hooligan who broke whatever she could get her hands on according to her mood in the main building.
Derek quietly followed the maid, who was walking with her head bowed, down the hallway of the ducal estate.
The hallway of the ducal estate, filled with splendid decorations, was so dazzling that it was blinding just to look at it, and on the walls were hung many paintings that looked expensive at a glance.
From the carpets to the curtains, everything was a collection of the finest goods; it was a bona fide noble house.
The small path leading to the annex was surrounded by green trees, and red rose vines decorated an arched fence. It was a very pretty path on the outside, but the intention to keep a distance from the main building was evident in its design.
"..."
And so, Derek followed the maid and entered the annex where Diella's room was supposed to be.
Passing through the large main gate, he could finally see the servants who were assisting Diella. A sense of weariness was already showing on their faces.
"My name is Derek."
"We have been waiting. This way, please."
As Derek briefly introduced himself, the butler managing the annex guided Derek toward the stairs that ran along the hall.
Unlike the main building, which was full of vitality, the inside of the annex felt strangely tinged with gray. The sun did not shine in well, and it felt as if a damp air was flowing.
Derek took a deep breath and went straight up the stairs.
Eventually, a large room appeared, which seemed to be where Lady Diella resided. In front of the wooden door, maids were waiting with their heads bowed.
"Thank you for your hard work."
He passed the servants, whose expressions were all haggard, and finally reached the front of the door.
Derek rested his chin on his hand for a moment and pondered, but then decided that there was no point in thinking further when he didn't even know what kind of person Diella was, and knocked.
Knock, knock.
"Excuse me."
As there was no answer, he slowly opened the door and looked inside.
"..."
The air in the room was heavy and subdued.
It was an overly large room for a single girl who was not yet an adult to use. It was so magnificent that it seemed that even if all the space occupied by the furniture was combined, it would not even amount to twenty percent of the room.
A bed decorated with dainty lace, a tea set cabinet that looked like a high-end item at a glance. A dressing table and a wardrobe with splendid embroidery caught his eye.
In the center of the room was a tea table covered with a white tablecloth, and a girl was sitting there with her back to the door.
Although only her back was visible, her abundant blond hair, which embraced her petite frame like wings, was impressive. The girl, who was wearing a comfortable-looking lace dress as everyday wear, seemed to be having a cup of tea at the tea table.
"My name is Derek. Excuse me for a moment."
"Come closer."
Her tone was graceful, but a youthful air remained in her voice.
She was the youngest of this House of Duplein. Since she was even younger than Lady Aiseline, there was nothing strange about her voice.
When he quietly observed the expressions of the surrounding servants, their anxiousness was evident.
Derek's gaze rolled once, and then he finally walked into the room with heavy steps. In any case, he had to have a conversation with Diella.
It was the moment he calmly approached Diella.
Splash!
It happened in an instant.
By the time he closed and opened his eyes, Derek's entire body was already drenched.
Diella, who had turned around quickly, had thrown the mop water she had hidden under the tablecloth straight at Derek.
A fishy smell was rising from Derek's body. He was in the same state as the maid who had been sobbing in the reception room.
"Oh my."
The girl's eyes, narrowed like a cat's, exuded a sense of satisfaction.
She ran her slender fingers along the corner of her mouth, and then, twisting the ends of her abundant blond hair, she smiled innocently.
"Oh my, oh my, oh my."
Drip, drip. Drip.
Dark red droplets of water fell from Derek's white bangs.
Diella, visible through that hair, had the corners of her mouth raised in a fishy smile, as if something was so joyous.
"I thought a sewer rat had crawled in, but it was the mercenary the head butler was talking about?"
"...."
"Or not? Now that I look again, I think it might be a sewer rat after all. They said you were a beggar who rolled around in the slums, right? You're living in luxury. To come to a magnificent mansion like this."
Diella grabbed one more thing from under the tablecloth, and then climbed onto the chair and poured it over Derek's head.
Swoosh
This time, it was dirty water mixed with things like food scraps. It was something the kitchen maids were about to clean up, which she had insisted on bringing and keeping.
Derek now felt he understood why the servants' expressions had been anxious. They had known that Diella would pull a stunt like this.
Nevertheless, the reason they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut was that if they had told Derek in advance and he had prepared for it, Diella's anger would have been directed at them.
Regardless of the era, middle managers always have a hard time. Working in this annex must not be an easy job.
Because Derek understood their anxiety to some extent, he quietly accepted the dirty water.
Drip, drip, drip.
Clang!
Eventually, after completely emptying the contents, Diella carelessly threw the empty bucket onto the floor.
"I prepared something to remind you of your hometown, in case you weren't used to such a magnificent place. Now you look a bit more like you're from the sewer slums. How is it, do you like my surprise gift?"
"..."
"Don't look at me so insolently."
Diella, still standing on the chair, kicked Derek in the solar plexus, knocking him over.
Thud!
The already dirtied floor was slippery, so Derek had no choice but to fall into a sitting position.
"Ugh... it stinks."
She took off the slipper that had touched Derek's body and threw it at him carelessly.
Diella's slipper, which had hit Derek's shoulder, rolled on the floor.
Diella, now barefoot on one side, sat on the table with her legs crossed. Using the chair as a footrest, she rested her chin on her hand and let out an arrogant laugh.
"So now even sewer rats from the slums are entering my annex. Without even realizing how lowly their status is... you should have realized your place and gone back before you saw something nasty. What is all this?"
The girl's eyes were sharp, belying her petite frame. The aggression of a feline creature with its claws out was clearly revealed.
As if the rising smell was unpleasant, the girl pressed the bridge of her nose and spoke.
"You lowly beggar, who do you think you are to try to teach me?"
"..."
"You should know your place, you street-beggar bastard."
Derek quietly looked at the girl, and then got to his feet again.
'Therefore, there is something I must earnestly ask Your Grace the Duke.'
The movement of the Duke of Duplein, who had been sitting in his office quietly fiddling with his quill, stopped.
He stroked his chin a few times for a moment, and then eventually placed the quill on his office desk.
"..."
'I am not a typical magic teacher, but a mercenary from the streets. Therefore, I can handle things my own way, or I can handle things according to principle, as others have done.'
'However, seeing that the treatment of the person known as Lady Diella has come to this, I am not sure if the situation will be resolved with the same measures that have been taken so far. Sometimes, a drastic remedy may be necessary. That is why I cannot help but ask Your Grace the Duke, who loves Lady Diella dearly.'
The Duke rose from his seat, went to the window in a corner of the office, and quietly looked at the scenery outside.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, lost in deep thought.
A flow of mana in his body that seemed to be at least 2-Star, despite being of commoner origin.
The way he asked what he needed to know, point by point, even in front of the Duke. And yet, the way he maintained the utmost courtesy showed a basic understanding of noble culture.
That boy had said it. That mercenaries make it a virtue to surely solve the requests they receive.
Just as those words said, the boy was trying to clearly judge what was necessary to solve the request. And he was not going to be picky about the means and methods.
Feeling that strange sincerity, the Duke of Duplein had to rest his chin on his hand and fall into thought.
'In teaching Lady Diella, to what extent can Your Grace grant me authority?'
A drastic remedy may be necessary.
The seriousness in Derek's eyes as he said that was clearly different in direction from the graceful, noble-born mages he had seen so far.
If he did the same as he had until now, the result would be the same as it had been until now.
The boy's voice as he said that was as firm as steel.
"..."
Diella's arrogant and insolent nature was already famous among the upper class.
In her becoming like that, was there truly no fault of the Duke of Duplein himself?
As the head of the family, as the patriarch, and as a father, had he always made the right choices?
Valerian, Reigh, Aiseline, Diella.
Had he, who was always preoccupied with taking care of the ducal domain amidst a mountain of paperwork, always loved his children equally?
In the midst of such endless self-questioning... the Duke of Duplein was just quietly looking at the scenery outside the window.
SLAP!
CRASH!
Sometimes, when something happens too suddenly, one cannot immediately understand the situation.
It is because the scene is so detached from reality that the mind cannot accept it.
This was precisely such a situation.
The servants who had gathered by the door and in the hallway all had their eyes wide open.
They were so engulfed in a shock that they forgot even to breathe, and all of them were trembling to their fingertips.
Clatter!
The sound of a teacup falling from the tea table and breaking.
In front of it─ Diella, who had been slapped by Derek and knocked right out of her chair, was sitting on the floor.
"──."
A silence so profound it felt as if time itself had stopped.
Diella, sitting on the floor, had to just stare with wide eyes, unable to even properly grasp what had just happened. Her pupils, dilated to their limit, spoke for her shock.
What was the position of a lady of a powerful family?
If the temperature of the black tea was wrongly adjusted and the lady's tongue was burned, the servant who boiled the tea would be whipped until their back was torn.
If she stumbled while walking on the street and sprained her ankle, the lady-in-waiting who was assisting her would be kicked out of the mansion.
Such was the precious body of a noble lady who must always be graceful and beautiful. The servants who belonged to a noble house were educated until they were sick of it.
However, as if to make such things meaningless, Diella's cheek was swelling up, turning bright red.
Pat, pat.
Derek brushed off the ends of his dirtied tunic.
Diella tried to form a voice to say something, but her throat, seized by shock, could only let out a hollow, meaningless sound.
"..."
He smelled of fish.
Diella was right. Derek's hometown was the sewer.
To high-level mages who had lived their entire lives nobly, such humiliation could be an unbearable wound, but to a sewer rat from the bottom, it did not even leave a scratch.
This, too, was a part of life.
"Stand up."
Derek, having straightened his clothes, quietly looked down at the fallen girl.
White hair matted down with dirty water.
Through it, in the cold eyes that were revealed, there was a certain demonic aura that was chilling just to look at.
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