There Are No Bad Young Ladies in the World

Power and Love (10)

“I’ve already heard about the legendary deeds of Lady Rodeia on Rodentz Island at the last meeting. I heard she wielded the Holy Blood Sword and cut down dozens of necromancers in a huge underground hideout in a single day.”

—

—

In front of Ellente, who had finished her explanation, the expression of the Duke of Belmiord, sitting at his desk with his arms crossed, became even more serious.

“They say that every time she returned to the garrison covered in the blood of necromancers, she looked like a reaper from the underworld. She had spent her entire life chasing the necromancers of Rodentz Island, and it was said that she could distinguish the necromancy of Rodentz Island just by seeing the faint aura of magic.”

There are various branches of necromancy, but at least for the necromancers from Rodentz Island, they could never escape her keen eyes.

The Duke of Belmiord closed his eyes gently.

If Leonard had indeed gone to learn necromancy under the pretext of a pilgrimage, this would also be a great misfortune for the Belmiord family.

The situation was such that the daughter and son were pointing fingers at each other, shouting that the other was a necromancer.

For the Duke of Belmiord, who had to mediate, his mind was inevitably complicated… but in the end, he had to make a decision.

Even if they were his own flesh and blood, he had to cut them off when necessary.

Today, he had to cut off either his daughter or his son. The heavy truth made the Duke of Belmiord’s heart sink.

“Father.”

Ellente, who was bearing the malice of the mansion’s retainers and servants, spoke to the Duke of Belmiord, who was lowering his gaze under the weight of responsibility.

“Father, you have lived as a lord, leading armies, commanding the heavens and the earth, and guiding people since you were young.”

“…”

“I admired your life. I thought that a life of holding power, achieving victories, and being revered by people was noble and wonderful. The most glorious and ideal life I could imagine was a life like yours.”

Were these words meant to flatter the Duke of Belmiord? No, they were not.

The Duke of Belmiord knew Ellente better than anyone. No matter how cornered she was, she was not the type to use cheap flattery to win someone’s favor.

“However, the life I imagined for you must have been very different from reality. You must have experienced many trials and falls while standing at the top of Belmiord. Sometimes you were betrayed, lost comrades you considered family, fell short of your goals, had things taken from you, suffered slander, and were brought down by the jealousy of others.”

She spoke in a gentle voice, fiddling with the hem of her dress.

In this hell where everyone in the mansion called her a witch, it was as if she had realized something new.

The dreamy girl who had blindly reached for that power she admired had matured, discussing the rise and fall of life and the journey it entails.

The Duke of Belmiord’s eyes trembled as he looked at Ellente.

The girl he thought was just locked in her room, going through a tough time, had met someone and broadened her perspective. She had learned something and grown from it.

Teaching someone must be like that.

Ellente whispered with a more relaxed demeanor.

“That too is part of life.”

And before continuing, Ellente gently closed her eyes again.

Even at this moment, the world was full of people walking their own paths in this undulating journey of life.

And as if she had made up her mind, she softly opened her eyes and spoke.

—

—

– “Father, I won’t ask you to trust me right away. However, I wanted to tell you at least this one thing, for all the tireless efforts you’ve made for me.”

Leonard’s scream echoed through the basement.

A mercenary with white hair hanging down summoned a magic arrow to subdue Leonard.

Leonard quickly pulled a small flask from his bosom and threw it to the ground. With a clatter, the flask shattered, and smoke began to fill the narrow underground laboratory.

Derek quickly covered his nose with his sleeve and summoned wind magic to regain his sight.

As his vision returned, the corpses raised by Leonard’s necromancy moved grotesquely and charged at Derek.

– “I am a foolish and lacking daughter, so I still have much to learn. The only fortunate thing is that I have met someone I can truly call a proper teacher, something that will never happen again in my life.”

Derek’s drawn sword swiftly cut through the horde of corpses.

However, Leonard took advantage of the momentary restriction in Derek’s movement, using a first-class combat magic shockwave to smash the wooden door and escape to the surface.

Derek quickly neutralized the corpses and chased after Leonard without hesitation.

Leonard cursed as he looked back at Derek coming up the stairs.

Murderous intent gleamed in his eyes. Even in the darkness, that hostility was evident.

Just one look was enough to send chills down one’s spine, as he took on the unmistakable appearance of a hunter.

All the prey could do in front of a fierce predator was to run away with all its might.

– “I am neither of high status nor a righteous person in everything, but… his life was noble, his unwavering conviction was straight, and if he had a set goal, he never wavered.”

Leonard barely escaped from the basement and rolled on the floor of Elente’s room.

The darkness disappeared, and his vision brightened. As he took a breath in the sunlit room of Elente, Derek also came up the basement stairs.

Leonard quickly tried to run out of the room, but Derek grabbed Leonard by the nape and threw him into the corner of the room.

With a crashing sound, Leonard rolled on the floor and groaned.

As Derek, gripping his sword, walked towards him, Leonard trembled all over and raised his voice.

“Fine. I lost. You won. I’ll give you everything you want. Just don’t hand me over to that Rodia woman, who is like a grim reaper. If you help me escape from this mansion now, I’ll do anything. I’ll give you money, and I’ll restore Elente’s honor.”

He tried to persuade Derek with a long story, but Derek didn’t listen and kicked him in the face.

With a choking sound, something flew out of Leonard’s mouth along with fresh blood. Looking at the object rolling on the floor, it was a white molar.

– “I think a good teacher is someone who walks ahead. There will be times of wandering in life, and many times when life feels like a maze… but watching someone walk straight ahead helps you quickly find your own path.”

Leonard, clutching his swelling face, begged for his life, but Derek said, “Didn’t I tell you from the beginning? I can’t kill you now. But I can beat you to the brink of death.”

Leonard, with a trembling voice, said, “You can beat me as much as you want, and you can make me a wreck, but please don’t hand me over to that Rodia woman.”

The necromancers who had seen the exploits of the Rodia woman on Rodentz Island all thought similarly.

The Rodia woman, who had lost both her parents to necromancers, had skinned and torn apart the intestines of those blasphemous desecrators on Rodentz Island, carrying out a grand revenge.

Those who had witnessed the massacre up close knew exactly what it meant to fall into the hands of that woman. It might be better to die here being beaten by Derek.

However, Derek said, “I have no intention of killing you, Leonard.”

—

—

Leonard saw Derek’s indifferent face and gritted his teeth, forcing himself to push him away somehow.

As Derek hesitated for a moment, Leonard broke the window with his whole body and jumped out.

– Crash!

The sound of breaking glass from one of the rooms in the main building spread out. The sound reached the office where the Duke of Belmiard and Ellente were having a private conversation.

“…?”

“The person who serves as a touchstone in my life’s journey is someone I truly believe in and follow as a mentor.”

Something unusual was happening in the mansion.

Nevertheless, Ellente continued speaking with a calm expression, eyes gently closed.

“As I said, I met a respectable and good mentor. Even if I wandered a bit, I learned how to find my way. Knowing who your true people are when you’re at the bottom, this is what it truly means.”

“…”

“Father. I’m not sure if this is the right time to tell you this… but please don’t be too surprised.”

– Bang! Boom!

Noise was heard from the central garden of the mansion.

It was the sound of Leonard trying to escape and Derek hunting him down.

While Ellente was calmly conversing with the Duke of Belmiard, the chase between the two had already reached its peak.

Leonard landed on the ground and ran back towards the main hall.

Derek also chased after him.

The servants handling the mansion’s affairs were stunned and froze at the sight.

Leonard shouted. What are you doing? Stop that intruder. He’s assaulting me and trying to frame me.

Despite his shouts, the cleaning servants were just trembling, unable to grasp the situation.

Leonard’s steps staggered as he ran down the corridor. After being beaten by Derek several times, his vision was shaking and blurring.

Nevertheless, he gritted his bloodied lips and ran down the corridor, kicking over furniture and pushing over cabinets. He tried to hinder Derek’s pursuit with desperate movements, but all obstacles were blown away by Derek’s magic.

He couldn’t beat a veteran mercenary in terms of physical strength. Nor could he overpower him with magic.

In the end, if Leonard wanted to confront Derek, he had to rely on dishonesty and luck. Without resorting to forbidden necromancy, Leonard couldn’t even reach Derek’s toes.

Derek’s hand, approaching step by step, reached Leonard’s back.

Leonard gritted his teeth and struck that hand away, rolling on the floor and drawing out necromantic power again.

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Countless vengeful spirits gathered around his body, taking shape, and as he clenched his fist, they turned into magic.

The magic he unleashed towards Derek was ‘Life Drain.’ Among forbidden spells, it was a vicious one that directly sapped the opponent’s vitality.

However, before the magic could fully manifest, Derek grabbed Leonard by the collar and started punching his face repeatedly.

Thud, thud, the sound echoed through the corridor.

—

—

His face swells hideously, unable to even let out a groan. Blood splatters on Derek’s face, but his expression remains unmoved.

Derek is renowned as a skilled magician.

However, he hardly uses proper magic against Leonard. Responding to an opponent’s magic with proper magic is only a story that applies when their levels are somewhat similar.

Leonard’s abilities as a magician are no match for Derek. There’s no need to even use magic to subdue him.

But Leonard does not give up. As he casts necromancy magic again, a bony hand reaches out from around Derek’s feet and trips him.

As Derek quickly regains his posture, Leonard escapes his grasp and runs down the corridor again. Staggering, he somehow manages to widen the distance between them.

He can escape.

Derek is a very skilled mercenary, but not to the point where he can’t be shaken off.

By hindering and obstructing him with his most confident necromancy magic, and if he can just escape the mansion, he can somehow survive.

Once he secures his safety, the time for revenge will come.

The Belmiard family will reprimand and excommunicate him, but as long as he can maintain his body… he can always look for an opportunity to assassinate that ignorant mercenary.

With that thought, he doesn’t let go of the thread of hope and runs towards the garden again.

Running through the garden lined with maze-like hedges, he pushes over gardeners and heads inside.

– Boom!

Derek strides in, blowing away all the hedges in the garden and finds his location.

Leonard once again surrounds himself with spirits and wields basic necromancy magic to hinder Derek’s movements.

Watching Derek’s movements slow down little by little, a smile creeps up on his face. Derek is clearly struggling against Leonard’s interference.

Allowing an escape from a favorable position like the basement was his mistake from the start.

This mansion is where Leonard has played since childhood. He knows all the escape routes and small shortcuts by heart.

By appropriately utilizing the surrounding environment and necromancy magic, shaking off that slow mercenary is no big deal.

Before the servants or soldiers arrive, he quickly escapes the mansion. If he takes a horse from the stable and rides out, he can somehow reach the plains before a proper chase begins.

It was when he looked back to measure the distance from Derek.

– Thud

The surrounding magic fluctuates, and his movements become so fast that they can’t be followed by the eye.

3-star transformation magic ‘Acceleration’.

Derek, who has a natural talent for magic, was able to completely replicate the acceleration magic that Siern used just by seeing it a few times.

Leonard could not have known that. When Derek decided to move quickly, it was impossible for Leonard to properly observe his movements.

Before he knew it, he was lifted by the collar in Derek’s arm.

Leonard scratches at Derek’s hand gripping his collar, making a choking sound.

However, Derek still does not care.

—

—

In the middle of the garden, where the shrubs had fallen and the ground was torn up, Derek grabbed Leonard by the collar and spoke.

“Shall we call it a day?”

As he said that, Derek’s calm eyes looked up at Leonard.

“Guh, huh… guh…”

It was then that Leonard realized.

From the very beginning in the basement, Derek hadn’t lost him. He had let him go.

If he had used acceleration magic from the start, there wouldn’t have been such a noisy chase.

But he gave Leonard hope that he could escape, made it seem like he could outpace Derek if he used all his means, and made him struggle desperately to get out of this place.

Why did he go through such troublesome efforts? The reason was clear.

“It’s necromancy…! Young Master Leonard… used necromancy…!”

“Call the Duke…! And the head butler…!”

“Ahhh! aaahhh!”

Seeing the chaos inside the mansion, Leonard bit his bleeding lip hard.

It felt as if everything was moving according to Derek’s plan.

“It’s noisy outside the mansion, Father.”

Elente spoke quietly.

While the Duke and Elente were having a private conversation, what on earth was happening outside?

Even though Elente couldn’t possibly know the details, she spoke with her usual relaxed demeanor.

She laughed, brushed her pretty red hair, and smiled seductively.

Even at this moment, when she was the object of everyone’s hatred and malice, she remained calm as if it was nothing.

Seeing her, the Duke of Belmiard spoke.

“Yes, Elente. So, what is it that you want to say for the last time?”

“…Please don’t misunderstand, Father. As I said, I, Elente, was born as an ordinary person with many shortcomings, dreamed of holding power, met an unbeatable rival and was frustrated, and even fell to the bottom and lost all trust and faith.”

There seemed to be a deep meaning in Elente’s gentle tone.

The Duke of Belmiard, listening to his daughter’s confession, felt that something was amiss.

“Still, I think all these processes were meaningful. Because I met a good person.”

“…”

“Yes. At every trial, the one who stood by my side was, after all, Baron Ravenclaw. What more can I say? I have come to believe without a doubt that he is truly reliable, trustworthy, and will be a great ally for life if kept by my side.”

The Duke of Belmiard nodded and finally replied.

“I agree that he is a good man. Many people want to take him in as an advisor, but such a lone wolf would never pledge loyalty under someone else.”

—

—

“Yes, Father. But I’m not saying I want to take that man as an advisor.”

“…? Then what do you mean?”

When asked again, Ellente closed her mouth.

As they held each other’s gaze for a moment, she awkwardly lowered her eyes.

Her face blushing strangely and her fingers twisting, she looked more like an ordinary girl than a noble lady.

The gap was so unfamiliar.

What image comes to mind when you think of Ellente? At the pinnacle of power, commanding her vassals, exuding an aura so noble that it was hard to even think of approaching her, she was like a rose blooming on a cliff.

But now, who is this unmistakable girl right in front of me?

Seeing Ellente like that… The expression of the bewildered Duke of Belmiord began to harden little by little.

Soon, cold sweat began to trickle down his neck.