Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Translator: XZY
Chapter 60: Watercolor (2)
***
Derek gathered the arms of the fallen Reigh behind his back, then bound them tightly with cloth torn from the curtains.
Then he wrapped the remaining cloth around his entire body and manifested the 1-Star Transmutation-type magic ‘Attribute Grant’ to give it the hardness of a rock.
The series of actions was as natural as flowing water; it was not the work of someone who had done it only once or twice. Lady Freya sat in a corner of the corridor and watched Derek with wide eyes.
‘Katia’s former disciple? I heard he was a commoner, but he was this kind of person?’
Five minutes ago, Lady Freya had tried to quickly distance herself from Derek and escape, but she was caught in an instant.
It was the first time in her life that her Illusion-type magic had been seen through so quickly. She had been so flustered that she had begged for her life, but this white-haired mercenary had recognized Lady Freya and calmed her down.
The boy, who had introduced himself briefly as just Derek without giving his family name or affiliation, said that he knew Lady Freya was the eldest daughter of the County of Elbester.
The appearance of the man, who greeted her while politely observing the etiquette of nobles, exuded the feeling of a sensible person that could not even be compared to when he was subduing the madness-filled Reigh.
“Y-you said you were Derek, right? Master Katia often talked about you. She said you were a person born with exceptional magical talent even among commoners...”
“Is Master Katia well?”
“...Of course. The position of a magic teacher in the County of Elbester is a position that everyone looks up to.”
Derek, who was pulling the cloth tightly and checking that it was well-bound, answered without even looking at Lady Freya.
The situation was what it was, so it was a situation where he could not provide all the necessary courtesies to the young lady of the County of Elbester.
“It seems we are martial siblings. I also received great teachings from Master Katia. I’m relieved to hear that Master is well. However, I don’t think this is the time to be catching up.”
Derek said after completely restraining Reigh.
“The young lady of the Beltus family is hiding in the guest room area upstairs. We plan to gather the survivors there, so Lady Freya, please head upstairs as well.”
“No, I... I was trying to escape outside the mansion.”
“The outside of the mansion is full of moving corpses. You will regret it if you rashly try to escape alone.”
“If I’m determined to escape, no one can catch me. I escaped alone from the great fire of Robenter Castle started by bandits.”
“Weren’t you just caught by me?”
“...”
Freya could not say anything. However, that was only because Derek’s mana detection ability was strangely sharp.
In reality, Lady Freya was a person so skilled at diverting others’ gazes that even Katia had to search the mansion all day with all her might just to barely find her.
Derek rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought for a moment.
Certainly, the level of Lady Freya’s Illusion-type magic had reached a considerable realm.
Derek was able to barely catch Freya because he was a person who had been personally taught the sense of detecting mana by Drest, but it did not seem easy to chase Lady Freya with an ordinary level of Detection-type magic.
A 3-Star mage would have to be involved to notice even a slight hint, so she would be able to shake off the corpse-monsters without difficulty.
The thought that it might be better to send Lady Freya outside the mansion to request for help suddenly popped into his head. It was a viable alternative to seriously consider.
‘I’ve seen plenty of people die, but why is this girl so calm?’
Meanwhile, Lady Freya was looking at Derek as if she had discovered a strange unicorn.
Even in a situation where the mansion was full of possessed humans, he was searching for survivors without even a hint of panic, subdued Reigh, and even stopped Freya who was trying to escape.
His magic skills were outstanding, his judgment was good, and above all, they were even tied by the connection of Katia. Freya quickly revised her judgment.
‘For now, it’s better to trust this kid. My intuition is telling me so.’
“Then I’ll go to the guest room area and meet the young lady of the Beltus family. But... what are you planning to do after gathering the survivors? Now that things have come to this, isn’t it better to make a plan to escape first?”
“Let’s save as many as we can. Aren’t the distinguished guests gathered in this mansion right now each and every one a person of renown in the empire?”
“Is it loyalty to the empire?”
“If an official from the empire came and asked, I would answer so.”
“And in reality?”
“It’s half a sense of duty to save lives as a human being, and the other half is the fact that if I save a distinguished guest, something will fall to me anyway.”
He had heard that the nobles of the northeast paid hundreds of gold coins for a life without a second thought.
If they offered that much gold just to save a prisoner, then if he saved the life of a noble, it would be recognized as a great achievement anyway.
“There’s no rule that the reason a person moves has to be clearly one thing, is there?”
Just by hearing those words, Freya felt as if she had caught a glimpse of a certain aspect of the man named Derek.
He was a fundamentally good person, but that didn't mean he was naive about calculations. He was selfish in the parts where he was selfish, and he also knew how to be altruistic in the parts where he could be altruistic.
He was much better than a person who was focused on only one of the two.
Freya took off the necklace she was wearing and placed it in Derek’s hand.
“...What is this?”
“It’s a magic accessory that the Arendale Academy sent as a gift for my coming-of-age ceremony. It’s a set with this ring, and if you wear them, you can know each other’s location.”
“Isn’t it expensive?”
“It’s better for you not to know the price. In any case, if we’re going to be moving around this mansion, it’s better to maintain a state where we can confirm each other’s location.”
Derek quickly wrapped the necklace around his neck and put it inside his clothes.
“If you go out to the main hall, there are a lot of mages who have lost consciousness sitting at the banquet table. It seems most of them haven’t lost their lives.”
“The banquet table?”
“Yes. I don’t know the reason, but the servants of this mansion are still busy preparing for the ball. In fact, it’s not a ball, it looks more like some kind of ritual.”
Derek’s brow furrowed.
A ritual of setting up a grand banquet, playing music, and killing mages was literally something that only Necromancy-type mages would do.
If one killed a high-level mage while worshiping a god of corpses or a god of souls, one would take away the magical power dwelling in that soul and a part of it would be bestowed upon the mage.
Certainly, disguising it as a ball might have been a wise judgment.
One could naturally gather high-level distinguished guests in one place, and the sight of preparing a band or food for the ritual would not be considered suspicious.
Since the major event of Lady Diella’s debutante was also overlapping, the gathered distinguished guests were all bound to be careless.
It was the mansion of the Duplein family, one of the most prestigious families on the continent, of all places.
No one could imagine that such a chilling thing would happen.
The problem was that from the Grand Duke Duplein to his children... there was no one who would lead such a crazy act.
Especially Derek, who had been close to the Duplein family, knew it even better. Valerian, Reigh, Aiseline, Diella... none of them were the type to dabble in such a taboo.
‘There was some shocking trigger, or someone incited them... or they could have been possessed by a magic equipment with a lingering thought...’
Derek quickly deduced the possibilities.
One could not rashly guess which of the Duplein family had been drawn to such Necromancy-type magic.
However, for Derek, he could sufficiently guess who it was.
— ‘Before you become an adult, Valerian Delomein Duplein will dabble in necromantic magic.’
— ‘If such a thing happens, you will kill that man.’
Drest, who had seen all of this in advance, had warned Derek.
He had told Derek, of all people, to kill that Valerian. He, who had already reached the realm of 6-Star, had not stepped forward himself.
Now that the situation had come to this, he felt he could see a little of that intention.
It was a situation where most of the continent’s distinguished guests were caught and their lives were in danger. If he cleaned up the scene in this situation and caught and subdued the mastermind, the merit would be beyond words.
If he had the merit of saving the lives of numerous nobles, it would be a great help on Derek’s path to a higher realm in the future. The empire would probably have no choice but to step forward and praise him.
Therefore, Drest had intended to hand over all this merit to Derek.
The reason he had sought out and trained Derek at that time was also to match the necessary level so that he could subdue Valerian, who was possessed by Necromancy-type magic.
— He could not fathom how far ahead he had been looking.
That was what it meant to have a 6-Star Detection-type mage as a backer.
However, Derek’s feelings were complicated.
The Valerian that Derek remembered was the figure who was sewing a doll with unskilled hands and sweating profusely just to win a little of Diella’s favor.
He was a person who always lived thinking only of his family, and was the most prestigious next head of the Duplein family.
Although Derek did not easily acknowledge others, he had acknowledged that Valerian was a talent who would grow into a leader worthy of everyone’s respect.
‘Nevertheless... if he has taken the wrong path, he must be killed.’
However, Derek was a resolute person.
Even while holding complicated feelings, he did not hesitate to swing his sword at an important moment.
Like that, Derek walked steadily into the mansion’s central main hall.
<><><>
The moon was heading towards the meridian.
Even at this time, nearing midnight, the moonlight entered the main hall of this Duplein mansion.
Jeobeok, jeobeok—
As he entered the main hall, a bizarre scene that could not be described in words was unfolding.
Five or six long banquet tables stretched vertically in the huge hall.
On them, a luxurious banquet was spread out appetizingly, and on the tables lined up on both sides, numerous mages who had lost consciousness were sitting limply.
Musicians with no focus in their eyes as if possessed by something were sitting quietly next to the main hall staircase, holding high-class string instruments to their chests.
Candlelight was flickering in all the candlesticks, and the center of the main hall where the star of the stage would be was empty, receiving the moonlight.
If people had been talking animatedly, it would have been a scene straight out of a ball.
However, the hall was strangely quiet. As he walked across it, only the sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty hall.
Derek narrowed his brow and looked around.
The mages lined up in front of the banquet tables had all lost consciousness, but their lives were still attached.
They had no intention of taking their lives before the ritual began. To try to raise one’s realm by sacrificing this many mages was not a normal way of thinking.
The renowned Necromancy-type mages in history had all made such attempts, and without a single exception, their necks were cut and they disappeared into the back alleys of history.
That was what it meant to dabble in a taboo.
It was when Derek was crossing this bizarre place and moved his gaze to the center of the main hall.
The moonlight coming through the stained glass that was spread open on one wall was illuminating that place.
It was probably the seat of honor where the host of this ball should be sitting. In front of it, a man was seen sitting on a wooden chair with his head bowed deeply.
His blond hair that came down to his shoulders was a bit longer than before. However, compared to then, white hairs were mixed in here and there. His skin was pale, and his build had become a bit more dependable.
Before, he had been wearing the attire of a classic noble, but now he was wearing steel armor with a lot of splendid decorations.
Although he had an appearance much more befitting of a next head of the family than before, the strangely precarious atmosphere compared to then was unusual.
Derek stopped his steps for a moment while keeping his distance.
“...”
“Who is this. Derek. You have attended the stage to celebrate Diella’s debutante.”
“...Young Lord Valerian’s impression has changed a lot.”
“Yes. Time has a way of changing people. Still, for the master whom my lovely youngest sister Diella respects the most to have come in person is a truly grateful thing for the one who hosted this ball.”
Valerian raised his head and looked at Derek.
His ominous and pale appearance was revealed. His pupils were trembling as if an earthquake had struck.
“However, as you can see, the ball has been canceled due to circumstances. If Diella returns to the mansion, could you take her and return to Ebelstein?”
“...”
“My situation is like this right now, so there is no one I can trust with such a request.”
Behind Valerian, the largest and most magnificent wooden chair was placed.
It was, in fact, the seat where the person of the highest rank in this ball would be sitting. The place where Valerian was sitting was clearly visible due to the moonlight leaking from the stained glass, but that seat was subtly buried in darkness and not clearly visible.
As Derek took a few steps to the side and shifted his viewing angle, the person sitting in that chair slowly came into view.
As soon as he recognized who the person sitting limply with their head bowed was, Derek’s eyes narrowed even further.
Grand Duke Raymond Oswald Duplein.
The head of this mansion was sitting limply with his chest pierced by a dagger.
The insignia of an eagle was clear on that dagger. It was the insignia of the Duplein family.
“...”
Valerian’s expression softened once more when he saw that Derek had confirmed the Grand Duke’s appearance.
“As you can see, I am busy picking up the pieces of the mistake I have made.”
Valerian gave a bitter smile and got up from his seat.
The clanking sound of his armor spread across the hall once.
“...What are you doing here?”
“Did I not just say so?”
Valerian said with a complicated smile, in a softly lowered voice.
“I am picking up the pieces of a mistake.”
Derek stood still, staring at Valerian without even flinching.
Derek’s gaze, sometimes firm and sometimes soft, was resolute this time. There was no need to ask in detail about the intention contained in those eyes.
Valerian was quietly looking at Derek, and then, as if dejected, he lowered his gaze.
“I see.”
Valerian was quietly looking at the floor with such a dejected expression, and then, he raised his hand, which was wrapped in mana.
An ominous dark red mana covered the ballroom once, and then, it gathered at Valerian’s fingertips and took the form of a staff.
It was a staff known to the public as a relic of the 5-Star Summoning-type mage, Rosin.
However, unlike what was known, the owner of that staff, Rosin, was not a Summoning-type mage.
Derek could only quietly furrow his expression.
Hwik—
A ballroom where the moonlight wrapped around.
The master of that place raised his body and looked down at Derek.
Necromancer Valerian.
He was the master of this mansion.