There Are No Bad Young Ladies in the World

The Bloody Ball (4)

“You might get hurt, so stay by the bedside.”

“Wait, wait… Derrick. You’re suddenly going to break the window? If you damage the property of the Duplain mansion so easily…”

Seeing Derrick about to act out suddenly, Denise got up and, seeing his expression, trembled slightly. Derrick’s expression was endlessly serious.

Crisis often comes without warning. Derrick knew this better than anyone, so when in doubt, he preferred to act first.

Overreacting is much better than reacting too late. He had never regretted following this principle.

– Crash!

“Ahhh!”

The chair Derrick threw flew out the window and rolled on the garden floor.

There was no one near the garden shrouded in darkness anyway.

After pushing away the remaining glass shards with his boots, Derrick stuck his head out and surveyed the surroundings.

Even after breaking both windows, the space was still too tight for a person to pass through. However, since Denise was small in stature, it seemed possible to take her out.

“D-Derrick. Why are you doing this?”

“Focus your magical senses on the hallway. The hallway is filled with unfamiliar magical energy.”

Denise also had some expertise in detection magic.

As soon as she heard Derrick’s words, she concentrated and began to sense the surroundings using the first-level magic ‘Magic Detection’.

It didn’t take long for Denise’s expression to harden. The magic emanating from the hallway was different from the usual bluish magic she dealt with.

The dark red, sticky energy flowing from that magic was unusual from the start.

Denise had never encountered this type of magic before, but Derrick had seen and heard about it to some extent.

“It seems to be related to forbidden magic. This is the first time I’ve encountered it since coming to this world.”

Combat, transformation, confusion, summoning, detection.

In addition to the five fields that classify magic, there were also a few forbidden magics that were banned on a continental level.

—

—

The way of utilizing magic is entirely different, and its growth method is also very different from regular magic.

Absorbing human blood, consuming souls, eating corpses… These methods are often far removed from the general ethics defined by humans.

There is always a reason why a taboo is a taboo.

“Excuse me.”

“Kyaa!”

Derek quickly picked up Denise.

Denise blushed at the sudden contact and gasped, but Derek, without a moment to spare, stepped on the broken glass with his boots and leaped into the dark garden.

– Whooosh!

Jumping from the third floor is almost akin to suicide.

However, as Derek drew out his magic and manifested the 2-star transformation magic ‘Earth Wall’, walls imbued with magical energy sprouted along the mansion’s outer wall.

Derek, throwing himself onto several earth walls in succession, managed to land in front of the garden and set Denise down without difficulty.

“De, Derek…!”

Denise, barely touching the ground, looked momentarily dizzy.

“…The mansion is a bit strange.”

After setting Denise down and gathering his magic, Derek looked up at the mansion with her.

Lady Diela had debuted in society, and all sorts of distinguished guests had gathered to celebrate.

However, the mansion they looked up at was eerily quiet.

And from every window crevice and between the outer walls, dark red magical energy was seeping out like eerie smoke.

The sight made it seem as if this massive mansion was bleeding. Even someone unversed in magic could tell it was an unusual sight.

“What, what is that… How did no one notice that?”

“There are quite a few 3-star magicians among the guests, and I believe there were even two 4-star magicians. It’s strange that so many high-level magicians didn’t notice this anomaly…”

Derek had memorized the guest list to some extent.

He couldn’t know all the lower nobles, but he tried to remember the names of at least the 3-star magicians and above.

Those of their caliber should have been able to notice that this ominous magic was enveloping the mansion.

However, there was no reaction from inside the mansion, which was peculiar.

“We need to find out what’s happening inside the mansion. Right now, the Duplain mansion is filled with high-ranking officials from across the continent. If something happens… it will be uncontrollable…”

“In my opinion, something has already happened.”

“…What?”

“That dark red energy… It’s either necromancy or disease magic.”

Denise gasped at those words.

—

—

Necromancy was the most famous taboo. To elevate its rank, one often had to devour corpses or kill high-level wizards to absorb their prowess.

This is why historically renowned necromancers were all mass murderers.

‘Safety first.’

Derek quickly assessed the situation. There was nothing good about being near this mansion right now.

Ensuring Denise’s safety was the top priority.

“Trying to find out what’s happening in this mansion is not a wise choice. Let’s get out through the front gate first. It’s better to assess the situation from there.”

Crossing the central garden and heading towards the front gate was the wisest choice.

If the front gate was closed, they would break it open. Counting the value of property in such a situation was foolish.

“Ah, got it! Derek! I’ll, I’ll follow you!”

Denise didn’t say much.

In such an urgent situation, Derek was the expert. Denise decided it was better to follow Derek rather than express a different opinion.

So, Derek and Denise ran across the central garden towards the front gate.

Denise grabbed the hem of her dress tightly, gritting her teeth to keep up with Derek’s pace, while Derek ran, staying as alert as possible.

– Tap, tap, tap!

In the quiet garden, only the sound of their footsteps echoed.

After running for a while, Denise was out of breath, but thanks to her usual training with Derek, she managed to endure.

They crossed the central garden, passed the tea table set up for guests, and went beyond the gazebo decorated with beautiful rose vines.

At that moment, they saw a man guarding the path to the front gate, and they had to stop. While Derek quickly took a stance and watched the man in the darkness, Denise caught her breath.

“Who goes there?”

“Derek, is that you?! It’s Delon! Butler Delon!”

It was a familiar face.

Among the people who had been with the Duplain family, Butler Delon had been there the longest.

His sharp eyes were still keen, and the collar of his well-dressed butler’s uniform was stiffly upright.

However, his butler’s uniform was stained with blood here and there.

Moreover, Delon himself was panting and clutching his wounds.

“B-Butler! You’re the butler of the Duplain family!”

“L-Lady of the Beltus family, you’re safe too. Thank goodness. The mansion is in chaos right now. Strange monsters are pushing up from the basement of the annex… They’re killing the servants indiscriminately.”

Blood was gushing from the wound Delon was clutching.

“We need to inform the main house about this… Lady Denise, please evacuate outside the mansion… As the butler, I must head to the main house to deliver the news…”

“Monsters appeared from the annex? How… How can such a thing happen in the middle of a mansion where people live?”

—

—

“I, I don’t really know either. I heard that the monsters usually push up from the labyrinth… Maybe a place similar to the labyrinth has manifested in the basement of the annex… We can analyze the cause later, but for now, evacuating the guests staying in the main building is the priority!”

“Y-yes…! The main building is full of representatives from influential noble families. If even one of them gets hurt, it will be a disaster!”

Denise took a deep breath after checking Delon’s condition.

One of Delon’s arms was already tattered and not functioning properly.

“B-butler…! First, we need to treat your wounds…!”

“I’m fine! Time is of the essence! Derek, please. You must inform the main building about the appearance of the monsters! Please… please…”

Delon, staggering, spoke while gasping for breath.

“F-first, we need to support you…! The bleeding is too severe! We need to support you and treat your wounds…!”

Just as Denise hurried to support Delon, Derek grabbed the back of Denise’s neck and threw her backward.

– Thud!

“Ahhh!”

Denise screamed as she fell to the floor, stepping on the hem of her dress.

Before she could grasp what was happening, Delon’s claws slashed through the air where Denise had just been.

– Whoosh!

Claws. The word felt out of place. Derek swallowed dryly.

As soon as Denise closed the distance, Delon’s hand, which was thought to be tattered, flew at her. To be precise, it wasn’t the same hand.

– Crack, crack!

A new hand was sprouting from Delon’s left shoulder.

It was too grotesque to be called a human hand. It was decayed, with only the nails growing disproportionately large. Denise’s eyes trembled at the nauseating sight.

Derek furrowed his brows.

The intelligent light that had been in Delon’s eyes just moments ago was gone, and the characteristic stench of the monsters began to emanate from various parts of Delon’s body.

His skin was covered in creepy, bulging veins, and his gradually pale skin became as hard as rock.

Delon, spewing blood from his mouth, made a rough, guttural sound and charged at Derek.

Without a hint of panic, Derek kicked Delon’s abdomen and twisted the decaying hand, throwing the monster onto the garden lawn.

– Crash! Bang!

Delon’s neck snapped at a right angle as he was thrown, but he got up again, unfazed, and placed his hands on the ground.

Looking at that grotesque figure, it didn’t feel like a living creature at all.

“W-what is… what is this…”

“Stand up, Miss Denise…”

“What is… what is this… Ahhh!”

—

—

– Thud, thud.

From the other side of the garden, various shapes of palms were suddenly popping out.

It was a scene where the dead buried in the ground were rising one by one. The sight, with its pervasive stench of decay, had the power to send chills down one’s spine.

Right next to Denise, an arm suddenly popped out and grabbed her wrist.

Denise gasped and tried to shake off the arm, but the grip was already far beyond human strength.

Just a few more seconds of that tight grip, and it seemed like the delicate bones in Denise’s forearm would shatter. At that moment, as the pressure on her slender wrist increased,

– Slash!

Derek, who had drawn a dagger from his thigh, severed the arm in one swift motion. Blood splattered.

The rotting flesh clung together, and the fluid dripping from it flowed down Denise’s arm.

Just the sight of it was enough to make Denise almost faint.

“Ahhh! Huff… Huff…”

“Miss Denise. Please stand up. The situation is urgent.”

“My, my legs… I can’t… Huff… Ahh… Ahh…”

Denise’s thighs were trembling.

Denise herself couldn’t believe what was happening, and she was hyperventilating with her face splattered with dark red blood.

Derek quickly lowered his stance, placed his hands on Denise’s shoulders, and looked straight into her eyes.

“Regain your composure, Miss Denise.”

“Derek… De, rek… Huff… Huff…”

Derek, who had plunged into countless labyrinths of flesh, adapted quickly to the situation.

However, it was too much to ask a young lady who had lived her entire life in a noble mansion to accept and deal with such a horrific situation all at once.

Therefore, Derek first matched his breathing with Denise’s while gazing into her eyes.

Just as fear is easily contagious, so is composure.

In this hell where corpses were slowly rising all around, Derek, without a hint of panic, first calmed Denise’s startled heart.

Derek’s appearance was chillingly calm. Eventually, even Denise’s lost reason began to slowly return to its place.

“Huff… Derek… I’m, I’m sorry… I… this situation… I can’t…”

“It’s only natural. Can you stand up?”

“Yes… First… we need to escape to the front gate…”

Derek glanced towards the front gate.

The number of corpses rising one by one was increasing towards the outskirts of the mansion. It seemed as if they were trying to trap all the guests inside the mansion.

Even if they managed to break through and get out of the mansion’s front gate, there was nothing but open land.

—

—

If we have to face that legion of corpses in such a place, our stamina will be completely drained first.

‘It would be nice if we could escape by carriage, but the coachman wouldn’t be in his place.’

Derek quickly assessed the situation and re-established his strategy.

“Let’s go back to the mansion for now. It’s more dangerous outside. We don’t know how many of those corpses there are, and before we can properly distance ourselves, Miss Denise’s stamina will be exhausted.”

“R-really?”

“There are guests in the mansion. Among them, there are quite a few 3-star magicians and some 4-star magicians. It would be better to find those who are safe and join forces.”

Even in the midst of this chaos, the fact that the main building was quiet was a major concern, but it seemed better than running blindly into the open field without any countermeasures.

Derek quickly supported Denise and started running towards the mansion.

Countless corpses, led by the butler Delon, began to stagger and chase after them.

“Huff… Huff…”

Denise, who had barely started to catch her breath, seemed to be regaining her composure.

Denise was generally quick-witted. However, she was still just a girl of that age.

In the face of grotesque scenes where human flesh was torn apart, and arms burst out through back skin, her thoughts inevitably came to a halt.

However, as soon as she regained some composure, Denise made the most rational judgment she could, her quick thinking was remarkable.

“The west wing of the mansion is entirely for the guests’ rest, right? When we came out from the west wing, there was no reaction. They must have already fled, or…”

“…Or?”

“Or they have already been subdued in some way. I don’t know why this is happening right now, but if I were the one planning this, I would have tried to subdue the high-ranking magicians among the guests first.”

From noble mtl dot com

It was a reasonable logic.

Something unusual was happening at the Duplain mansion. The instigator of this anomaly must have prepared countermeasures against the high-ranking magicians gathered in the mansion if they intended to cause such a commotion.

“If it’s an anomaly detectable by 3-star magicians or higher, right? Derek had sensed something strange and moved first.”

“Yes. There were quite a few 3-star magicians among the guests besides me.”

“Yes. They must have used some trick to subdue them.”

“But… I am fine.”

“Derek’s rank is not well known. It’s not easy to predict that a mercenary of common origin would be a 3-star or higher magician.”

Derek himself was an anomaly.

The world is vast and there are many magicians, but it would not be easy to guess that there would be someone of his age who could use exploration magic of this level.

In fact, the number of people who knew Derek’s rank could be counted on one hand.

“In the worst case, you might be the only 3-star or higher magician who can act properly right now, Derek.”

“…”

“Then you have to move and check the status of the other magicians.”

—

—

“That won’t be a big problem. Anyway, while ensuring the safety of the guests, let’s gather those who can be of help and secure the safety of the mansion first.”

As Derek calmly conveyed the situation, Denise took a deep breath.

Only then did her trembling fingertips calm down. Clenching her teeth, Denise followed Derek’s lead towards the mansion.

“I made a fool of myself.”

“In a situation like this, anyone would tremble. I’ve seen much worse while wandering through the labyrinth, so I adapted quickly.”

“Yes, you’re reliable. But the other noble ladies in the mansion must be trembling with fear. If things go wrong, the damage could increase exponentially.”

“…”

Denise was right.

As Derek ran towards the mansion, he recalled the list of guests who attended today.

Except for a few high-ranking wizards, most had no combat or battlefield experience.

Especially the noble ladies, who would likely be paralyzed with fear and unable to do anything in such a situation.

Flesh flying, blood splattering, and grotesque monsters roaming the mansion grounds.

It was natural to be paralyzed with fear in such a situation.

*

– Pshuk! Pwoosh!

The corpse of a servant that had burst into the room was hit by a magic arrow. Its decayed arm was torn off, and dark red blood splattered across the room.

– Splat!

“Ahhh!”

With a crash, the tea table overturned, and a lower-ranking noble lady sitting there screamed.

– Thud

The fallen corpse knelt and collapsed. Soon, it rolled on the floor, and its severed head rolled towards the lady, locking eyes with her.

“Eeeeeek!”

The lady, whose name was unknown, wet herself in fear.

Elente pretended not to see it. In such a situation, there were hardly any people who could maintain their composure.

The corpse had burst into Elente’s room shortly after Derek had run out of the mansion.

From outside the door, the aura of magic seemed to flow in, and a servant carrying a tray of tea entered.

However, the servant, dressed in a neat butler’s uniform, began to twist his body grotesquely, and soon, spewing blood, lunged at Elente.

Elente had been chatting with a lower-ranking noble lady she had befriended at the tea party. Although surprised by the sudden attack, Elente calmly drew a magic arrow and shattered the lunging corpse.

The lower-ranking noble, who was shedding tears, looked up at Elente, who, covered in dark red blood, was calmly dusting off her dress without batting an eye.

“What on earth… is happening…?”

—

The rumor of the shining star of the Belmiard family was well-known, but remaining calm even in such a situation was peculiar.

However, for Ellente herself, it was not so strange.

During a period of intense training, a mercenary-turned-magic teacher had taken her through all sorts of labyrinths that were nothing short of hell.

There, she had seen human-shaped monsters having their body parts severed in all sorts of ways, being torn apart limb by limb, and even witnessing human bodies being split in half.

The time to tremble at the sight of a corpse-like monster splattering a bit of blood had long passed.

‘…Completely terrified, aren’t you? It doesn’t seem like you’ll be of any help…’

Ellente sighed as she looked at the noble lady trembling like an aspen tree.

She then peeked down the eerie hallway. Only silence filled the air.

‘Should I check the condition of the others in the rooms…? Or should I stay put…? I’m not sure how to decide on a course of action…’

As Ellente slowly surveyed her surroundings, the noble lady lying on the floor was left dumbfounded.

Indeed, maintaining composure in such a situation would not seem normal. But for Ellente, it was not so strange.

Ellente occasionally closed her eyes and imagined the labyrinths she had traversed with Derrick. It was a horrifying sight that would appear in her dreams whenever she was about to forget.

Compared to that, a few corpse-like monsters lying dead were nothing more than child’s play.

In a way, Ellente was not normal either.

Unfortunately, this was also due to Derrick’s influence.

‘Anyway, understanding the situation before it escalates further is the priority…’

Muttering to herself, Ellente’s breath caught as she looked down the hallway again.

The west corridor of the Duplain mansion. A space lined with waiting rooms for the rest of numerous distinguished guests.

There… grotesque servants, devoid of any reason, were dragging all sorts of guests out of their rooms.

Most of them looked like limp corpses.

As she looked at the faces of the guests being dragged along the floor, there were more than a few whose names were known across the continent.

The scene looked as if they were preparing sacrifices for some ritualistic event.

‘No matter how you look at it… this is… a major incident…’

Ellente instinctively knew.

If they were all truly corpses, this event would be recorded as a catastrophe that would be talked about across the continent for years to come.

She was now in the midst of that scene.

Ellente swallowed dryly and thought.

‘Where is Derrick…? Derrick must be somewhere in the mansion too…’

At this moment, who could she rely on?

Oddly enough, that seasoned mercenary was the first to come to mind.

—

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