Chapter 22 Translator: XZY
Chapter 22: Belmeade (2) ***
The Margrave of Belmeade, the youngest of the influential figures in the western part of the empire, was a man who was perfect in every way.
Ruling over the entire coastal region south of the Belkos Peninsula, he single-handedly managed sixty percent of the trade routes leading to Ebelstein, and his territory's northern region was home to the headquarters of the Drestt Academy, the largest magic academy on the continent.
Not only that, but he also managed the vast grain-producing region that stretched north of the coastal area all by himself, so a joke often circulated that if you added up the annual tax revenue of the County of Belmeade, you could fill the sea with gold coins.
He was literally a person swimming in a sea of gold coins. However, even for him, whose every aspect of life had been a series of successes, there was just one thing he lacked: luck with his children.
His eldest son, Linerus, was so absorbed in gambling and womanizing that he was busy spending his days in debauchery, and his youngest, Leonard, one day suddenly declared that he would devote himself to the will of God and left on a pilgrimage, not showing his face except on holidays and major family events. It was truly a maddening and frustrating situation.
At least his second child, Elente, had her head on straight and was a person faithful to her duties, making her the one and only treasure of the Count of Belmeade, who was always troubled by his children.
"It is time to go for your magic duel practice, Lady Elente."
"...Has it already gotten that late."
Lady Elente, who received all of the Count of Belmeade's love, had already come to the noble district of Ebelstein a long time ago and had begun her social debut practice.
She was sitting in the cloister of a large dome building next to the square of the noble district. It was a place called the cultural cloister among the nobles of Ebelstein, a place where various salons and small clubs gathered to promote friendship and make connections.
Lady Elente had just finished a meeting of the Rosea Salon, the only one she was a part of, and was taking advantage of a brief free moment to look over a document containing news from her territory.
"I heard there is a tea party hosted by the Viscount House of Velorn. If you plan to attend, I will push back the duel practice."
"Never mind. I don't want to waste time on such child's play."
The girl still had more than a year left until her coming-of-age ceremony, but she was already mature.
The Count of Belmeade was already having her experience various practical duties. She was experiencing not only the supervision of crop cultivation and harvesting in the grain-producing region and the review of livestock management status, but also financial duties such as reviewing land and rental fees, dispute resolution duties, and even military duties such as managing private soldiers and weapons.
There was a rumor circulating in some circles that he had ambitions to make her the head of the family, passing on the property to her, even if it meant changing the long-standing family motto. If it were true, she would be the only female count in the western part of the empire.
"..."
Although she was only at the stage of gaining experience with the assistance of old vassals, to her, who was already familiar with the practical affairs of the territory to some extent, this social circle play often seemed like the child's play of young ladies who did not know the ways of the world.
Still, because of the public eye, she was fulfilling her duties as a noble young lady, but when she looked at the marriage proposal letters that occasionally came in, a scoff would often escape her.
Looking at the writing style of the men who recited all sorts of flowery language to puff themselves up in order to win the heart of a woman who had not even made her social debut, the monologue that this was what was meant by an empty shell naturally flowed out.
The girl wanted to become a monarch, and had not the slightest intention of being subservient to a single man. As if to prove that fact, the girl who stood up from her seat, her red hair flowing down, was majestic.
"I have a good feeling today. I might be able to use 2-Star magic."
"It is not good to harbor excessive greed. Magic mastery is something that must be done step by step and steadily."
As Lady Elente was leaving the cloister, she muttered to herself, and the old magic master who was following her calmly advised.
<><><>
Entering the magic dueling grounds located in the northeast of the noble district, Lady Elente suddenly felt a question and asked.
"By the way, I don't think there is a magic duel scheduled for today... who am I practicing with?"
"Today, in order to practice offensive magic a little more seriously, I have arranged for a commoner as an opponent."
"What?"
Elente, who was entering the magic dueling grounds with the hem of her dress trailing, shot a look at the old magic master.
That old master was a gentleman named Felmier.
He was a person who had been personally scouted from the northern part of the empire by a high-ranking vassal of the County of Belmeade, an old mage from the Viscount House of Maxton. He was a 3-Star Detection Mage, but he also had considerable knowledge in combat magic and summoning magic. And he was also a person who was steeped in aristocratic ideology to the bone.
Lady Elente was also a person steeped in noble society, so it could not be said that she did not have a sense of privilege or elitism, but still, there were quite a few parts where she clashed with this old magic master named Felmier.
It was a part just like now.
"The person who will stand on the other side of the dueling grounds today is a mere commoner, so you can practice magic as much as you want. A little injury can be taken care of by giving him some gold coins."
"Master Felmier, it seems you came all the way down from that cold north to Ebelstein to teach me how to beat people up."
"A duel is originally like that."
"Didn't you once teach me that I must show etiquette, elegance, and grace?"
"That was referring to a duel between nobles."
Lady Elente stopped walking to the dueling grounds and shot a sharp gaze up at the old master.
It was an era where there was no need to question how shallow the magical level of commoners was.
Moreover, the magical level of a commoner who had come to be beaten for a single gold coin was, at best, at the entry-level of 1-Star, or there was a high probability that he was just a half-wit who had not even learned star-rank magic.
Felmier stood firm with his hands behind his back, paying no mind to the girl's gaze that was shooting at him.
Felmier was not unaware of Lady Elente's personality.
She considered the act of going all out against a weaker opponent a disgrace, and considered shooting magic at an opponent who could hardly even resist a barbaric act.
Unlike Felmier, who considered commoners to be somewhere between beasts and humans, Elente was a person who thought that they should at least be treated as people.
"Still, I have arranged for a commoner who can handle 1-Star magic. He will not be completely unable to resist."
"Are you even saying that now..."
"If you truly respect your opponent, then do your best. Is that not the etiquette on the dueling grounds?"
In any case, he was a master with a silver tongue. Lady Elente could not help but let out a deep sigh.
"Then today, let's focus on mastering combat magic and illusion magic among the 1-Star magics."
"I'll have to quit if I feel it's not right after trying for a bit."
"You will never improve your skills that way."
Lady Elente let her master's words go in one ear and out the other and headed for the dueling grounds.
<><><>
'Good heavens, he's too young.'
Lady Elente could not help but frown again.
The boy who was sitting on the other side of the dueling grounds, fixing his boots, looked to be at most Lady Elente's age.
Commoners, even if they were 1-Star mages, were often old.
Learning star-rank magic at a young age was something that was almost only possible for nobles. It was clear that a nobody who had only been lucky enough to manifest a little mana had come.
His appearance was that of a mercenary.
It seemed that Felmier had placed a request with a mercenary corps in the tavern street and brought the person.
"..."
As if he had seen Lady Elente coming up on the dueling grounds, the boy dusted off the tips of his boots, stood up, and bowed politely.
A neat tunic and a leather belt. The metal part of the scabbard on his waist, as well as the buckle of the belt and the buttons on his clothes, were all glittering, so he did not seem to be a street beggar.
His hair was pure white, and his eyes were red, like Elente's.
For some reason, there was something alien about his appearance. He was surely just a child of Elente's age, but an inexplicable maturity was flowing out.
'...Is he not a nobody?'
"My name is Derek."
"Elente."
Elente did not bother to state her full name. He was not an opponent worthy of such courtesy, and in any case, everyone would know without her saying it.
However, for some reason, the name Derek felt as if she had heard it somewhere before. It seemed to be a name she had heard in passing, but it seemed to have been a long time ago, so she could not remember it well.
Elente tilted her chin a few times and tried to think, but it was not an easy task to salvage a memory buried in the distant past.
There was always a reason when Elente kept a commoner's name in her memory. There was likely a reason why that name was familiar.
She tilted her head a few times like that, but nothing special came to Elente's mind. Her wavy red hair just tickled the area around her lower back a few times.
"How much magic can you use?"
"I can handle a little 1-Star magic."
So he had learned star-rank magic.
Considering the boy's age, it was a great achievement, but it was clear that his level would be drastically different from Elente's, who was on the verge of entering 2-Star.
Elente considered just sending the boy back and glanced at Felmier. But Felmier just slowly closed his eyes and shook his head. In any case, that stubborn master always made Elente sigh.
"Do you know the basic etiquette of a magic duel?"
"Yes. It's only the basic parts, but I have seen and heard some things."
"Yes, that's good. Resist as much as you can. I'll finish it as quickly as possible."
Mana began to slowly rise from Lady Elente's fingertips. Due to the aftermath of the mana, her red hair floated up, and the hem of her luxurious frilled dress also began to sway.
She was one of the nobles whose magic achievement was quite fast, and by the time she had come of age, her mana had already manifested on its own. She was a person of quite outstanding talent.
It would only hurt her dignity to get too excited against a commoner boy who roamed the mercenary world. The girl just mechanically drew out her mana without any change in expression.
Finishing it moderately quickly would be good for Elente, as it would not leave a bad aftertaste, and for the boy, it would be good as he could easily receive the gold coins.
And so, it was when Elente was slowly drawing out more mana.
"You said to resist as much as possible... to what extent do you mean?"
"What?"
"It would be good if you could set a guideline for how much I should resist."
At those words, Elente stared at Derek as if she was dumbfounded.
Even though a fully mastered 1-Star mage was gathering mana right in front of him, the boy did not even show a sign of being nervous.
"What... kind of nonsense is that?"
"I am a mercenary. As you well know, mercenaries take it as a virtue and pride to surely complete the job they are given, to meet the client's objective."
Wondering what on earth this was about, she looked at the boy's eyes, but he had a serious look as always.
"I came here on a request to help with magic mastery. If that is the request, then how much should I resist to be of most help to Lady Elente's magic mastery?"
Elente did not know it, but Derek had already gotten used to that policy in his numerous mercenary life. No matter what anyone said, he was a mature mercenary.
A mercenary makes the client's objective their top priority. Whether it was subjugating monsters, dealing with ruffians, or escorting a caravan... the basis of all actions and judgments was to center on the client's goal. That was the virtue.
If what the client wanted was help to master magic further, and if they paid a reasonable price for it, then Derek would move for that goal. Therefore, Derek was looking at Elente with serious eyes.
He had said roughly that he would just take a few hits and lose, but if the core of the request was really magic mastery, then Derek's attitude had to change.
And that seriousness was the reason why clients specifically sought out Derek and placed their requests among the many mercenaries. Not just anyone could make a name for themselves in this tough mercenary world.
However, that too was all a story of the bottom-of-the-barrel mercenary world.
It was something a noble young lady who roamed above the clouds had no reason to know, nor did she need to.
"Ha."
Elente let out a hollow laugh once, and then said as if it were ridiculous.
"I told you, didn't I? Resist with all your might."
"Understood."
Hwaaaaaak!
Elente dismissed Derek's futile question and began to emit a large amount of mana from her hand.
Even if it was the same 1-Star magic, the class was different depending on who used it. As if to prove that fact, the quality of the mana flowing out of Lady Elente's hand was different from a normal 1-Star magic.
Hwoooong!
"O wind that sweeps the earth..."
Lady Elente quickly continued her chant and drew out the 1-Star magic 'Shockwave.'
Most combat magics took the form of an element, but this magic just drew out a shock and sent the opponent flying far away.
It was a magic mainly used by mages who needed to create distance in most combat situations, and in a duel like this, it was a magic mainly brought out when one wanted to push the opponent out of bounds and decide the match in an instant.
If you did not know the proper way to deal with it, you would be thrown out of the fence without even knowing what had happened.
Originally, such a crude magic was not allowed in a magic duel where dignity was important, but Elente's goal was just to send that commoner flying, give him a gold coin, and send him back.
And so, the magic drawn out from Elente's hand flew towards Derek.
Derek's two red pupils widened with a flash. Elente felt a strange sense of unease at that moment.
Hwaak!
Derek lightly jumped to the side and dodged the shockwave.
Since the shockwave had no visible form, one had to instantly detect the mana and guess its range. It was natural that one had to have a certain level of sense for utilizing mana, and one had to have nimbleness to be able to dodge it.
At that moment, Elente narrowed her eyes and quickly upgraded her evaluation of Derek.
'So he wasn't a nobody after all...?'
Quickly drawing up additional mana, she materialized a 1-Star magic, Ice Spear.
The ice spear of Diella, who had just learned 1-Star magic, was small and few in number, but the ice spear of Elente, who was as proficient as she could be, was larger than a person's upper body, and their number far exceeded a dozen.
'Still...! I don't want to waste my energy, so I have to end this quickly...!'
If she threw numerous ice spears at once without a blind spot, he would not be able to find an escape route.
He might be able to deal with one or two instinctively, but in front of an overwhelming quantity, the nimbleness unique to those mercenaries would have no meaning.
And so, it was when Elente turned her gaze towards Derek to set the direction to fire the ice spears.
Kagagang! Kang! Kagagagagak!
When she came to her senses, all the ice spears that had been floating around Elente were shattered.
Pasasasak!
Elente momentarily fell into the illusion that time had slowed down.
The shattered pieces of ice were slowly falling around her. The glittering ice pieces were reflected in Elente's wide-open pupils.
In Elente's vision, only the sight of Derek raising his fist and clenching it could be seen. She had only barely observed the aftermath of him seizing control of the mana flow.
Had he drawn out as many mana arrows as the number of ice spears in that brief moment and shattered them all?
The problem was that the series of processes was not visible at all. There was no chant, and there was no sluggish bottleneck that occurred in the process of utilizing mana.
Mana drawn out as naturally as flowing water made it impossible for the opponent to even perceive it.
From the fact that those numerous mana arrows had accurately struck each ice spear, she could not help but feel that the delicacy of his mana utilization itself was on a different level.
Had he introduced himself as a 1-Star mage?
No matter how much of a 1-Star mage he was, could he become like this if he trained to the extreme?
The boy opened his clenched fist, and then shook his wrist as if to release the tension.
Elente's eyes narrowed even more.
Soon, she leaped back greatly and drew up her mana again. Seriousness was already rising in her expression.
The girl, whose magical senses were sufficiently sharp, had seen through him in just two exchanges.
He was not someone she could deal with by taking it easy.
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