Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Quasi-Executive Baal (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Entering the Helm Marquis household,
she forcibly suppressed the rising fury...
went into the room at the end of the first floor,
unpacked her things simply, sat on the bed, and was reading a magic tome—
Knock- knock-
Along with the sound of someone knocking on the door,
the butler's voice came through.
"Miss, it's time for dinner."
Time had flown by before she knew it...
It was time for dinner, so they were telling her to come up to the dining hall.
"I'll eat alone."
At those dreadful words,
she expressed her refusal...
but
"That won't do, Miss. The Madam has specifically called for you."
The response that came back
was even more dreadful:
that the Marchioness had called for her personally, so she couldn't refuse.
'That damn Marchioness...!'
"Haa... Fine, I'll go..."
She wondered what scheme the woman was plotting this time...
She had specifically singled her out
for the family dinner where everyone gathered.
With a sigh, she dragged herself to her feet.
The lady of Helm Marquis House.
Laurel Helm.
Right before her birth mother passed away,
she had shared affection with her father, bore a child, and entered as a concubine...
After her mother died, she wielded absolute influence in the family second only to her father.
And...
'The one who always subtly torments me...'
She loathed her with a hatred bordering on disgust
and always found sly ways to torment her.
With those thoughts in mind,
she headed to the dining hall in a listless state.
Before she knew it, she had arrived at the dining hall door.
Creeeak—
As she opened the door and entered,
"Hahaha! To think you already knew that much, my son! Impressive!"
"That's right! Our son is such a genius!"
Her father's hearty laughter praising Hermel echoed through the dining hall,
along with the Marchioness's voice chiming in delightedly.
"Hm...? Ahem! Isabel's here."
And then—
The moment they spotted her, the atmosphere sank instantly, as if an unwelcome intruder had arrived...
The air in the dining hall filled with dreadful silence...
Their gazes and the mood treated her like an intruder,
as if declaring she had no place here.
In that heavily subdued atmosphere,
she walked over and sat at a seat far away.
Plain food was laid out before her.
As she observed it
and elegantly took a bite following etiquette...
'It's bland...'
In her mouth,
not even the blood properly drained, the fishy taste of unsalted meat overwhelmed her...
Still, to fill her stomach even a little,
she forced it down...
"Isabel, I heard you didn't take first place this time..."
The Marchioness opened her mouth.
"Not even second, but a mere third... I heard the top spot went to some commoner...?"
Her tone was overtly mocking,
clearly accusatory to anyone listening.
However...
There was no one on her side at this table...
She could only sit quietly
and endure the Marchioness's words, which were like outright condemnation.
'I'm gonna puke...'
In the end, as the tirade continued without end,
she felt she could no longer continue eating...
"I'll excuse myself first."
Interrupting the Marchioness,
she slammed down her utensils, rose from the table, and turned to head back to the first floor.
"You insolent girl, Isabel! What manners are those!"
Then came the Marquis's bellow.
He was rebuking her for arbitrarily cutting off the Marchioness and leaving the table without finishing her meal.
"Haa..."
Hearing that bellow...
This situation had grown utterly unbearable...
She couldn't stay here any longer...
The surging irritation and fury could no longer be suppressed...
Without a word,
"W-Wait! Isabel...!"
Creeeak—
Ignoring the Marquis's shout from behind,
she opened the dining hall door and stepped out.
"Miss...? Have you finished your meal?"
The butler, eyeing her curiously for emerging so quickly, spoke up.
"I'm done with dinner."
With those words, she barely suppressed her emotions and returned to her room.
Bam—!
Inside that room,
all she could do here was vent her anger by punching the innocent wall.
As she kept slamming her head against the wall to calm her rage—
Whoosh—
The window suddenly opened,
and a note flew in with the sound of wind.
"Hm...?"
A paper note that had suddenly flown in.
Harboring doubt about it,
she unfolded the note...
[Isabel! Let's sneak out and play at night! I'll be waiting at the plaza! - Libia]
The content written on the note
said she would wait at the plaza at night...
'Come to think of it...'
Come to think of it...
Before her mother passed away,
they had often snuck out of the mansion like this because she hated sending her off to boring state events.
No one came to the central plaza of the capital, Madel, at night...
It was the perfect spot for just the two of them...
'I miss it...'
'Isabel...! You can't go out during state events!'
Seeing this note brought back memories of her mother's voice,
scoldings filled with love...
So nostalgic...
A voice she wanted to hear just one more time...
It made her current self feel even more wretched.
She didn't wonder why Libia had suddenly sent this note
or how she had sent it.
No...
Truthfully, she just didn't want to think anymore.
Right now...
'Right now, I just...'
She just wanted
to play like they used to, even if just a little.
In the imperial capital,
at the Helm Marquis House's annex, as the sun had completely set.
Isabel Helm.
To head to the plaza mentioned in the note,
she secretly used magic to slip out through the window.
'It's been since I was a kid...'
Since she was little...
After her mother passed...
She hadn't done this since her immature days...
But she had no choice.
'Isabel, goodbye.'
'Isabeel! Good morning!'
The times spent at the academy,
each moment so precious to her...
So joyful...
Life at the Helm Marquis House, which she had somehow endured until now,
seemed utterly unbearable...
It was so painful...
She wanted to escape this place right now.
Anywhere was fine,
she just wanted to hide somewhere with no one around.
So, fearing she might be caught by someone,
she hurriedly dashed toward the central plaza of Madel.
Soon after,
the vast plaza finally came into view.
And there stood a familiar figure,
someone she had missed terribly since arriving here...
Her friend.
"Libia...!"
Seeing her,
she called out Libia's name with joy and approached the plaza.
And soon...
Noticing her approach,
Libia turned her head and spoke.
"Pfft...! You actually came."
"What...?"
However... Though it was clearly Libia's appearance and voice,
the words from her mouth
were filled with mockery and scorn that Libia would never utter...
"What? Are you really the Magic Tower Lord's disciple? You're so stupid!"
And the continuing words from Libia...
No...
From some unknown person, laced with sneering mockery.
"Who... are you...?"
At those words,
any lingering sleepiness from the late night vanished,
and tension flooded her entire body.
"Me...? Just think of me as a kidnapper~ Anyway, everything for you is about to end soon."
Kidnapper.
As she processed that identity in her mind from the unknown assailant,
she instantly began circulating mana throughout her body for battle.
"Ooh~? What's this? A timid little rebellion!"
Yet even seeing that,
the opponent leisurely drew up their own mana,
waiting for her to finish all her battle preparations.
That opponent's mana rose steadily and soon
reached an dizzyingly high level
that offered no chance of victory for her current self...
'I can't win this...'
With her sleep-cleared mind,
she quickly gave up on defeating the foe before her
and began thinking of ways to escape.
"Ooh~! Not giving up? I love this! That defiant look till the end! So cute~!"
Seeing that,
the opponent seemed to know everything, still appearing utterly relaxed.
But she didn't get angry at the sight.
'I need to exploit the opponent's carelessness.'
At this point,
an overwhelmingly superior foe she couldn't possibly beat...
On the contrary, that carelessness was a huge advantage for her...
So...
To flee from the opponent, she began deploying magic.
"Here I go!"
As she started deploying her spell,
the opponent leaped toward her simultaneously.
To block the approaching leap first,
she tried deploying an ice wall ahead
and using Blink to shift backward—but
Thud—
"Don't mess around, Herren."
"Eh... Natus, can't I play with her a little~?"
Her spell deployment was instantly shattered,
and she was blocked by yet another person who approached from behind.
"This is inside the imperial capital. We must always be cautious—"
"A~h~ Got it~ Let's go quick!"
And then...
Treating someone like her as beneath notice...
The two conversed casually, ignoring her.
Watching them,
she secretly tried Blink again... but
Thwack—
At that moment, a shock hit her from behind—
"Great~ Target secured! Now, what should I ask Baal for this~?"
"For now, securing the sacrifice is—"
Those were the last words she heard from the two kidnappers who seemed to disregard her...
Her vision went completely black.