Chapter 146

Chapter 146
Aquí tienes la traducción íntegra y completa del texto, manteniendo estrictamente el significado, el tono y la estructura original:

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## Chapter 146

“My ultimate goal is to restore the Duplain family to its former power. Of course, it won’t be easy and it will take quite some time, but it is not an unfeasible plan.”

Dereck gathered Aiselin, Diella, Leigh, and Trisha in one place and began explaining to them the plan he had prepared with such great effort.

Now that Dereck had reached the rank of a 4-star mage, he was already becoming widely known throughout the southwest region of the continent, and even his name was beginning to reach the imperial family in the center of the Empire.

For that reason, the popularity of his training center would only continue to grow.

That was why he planned to completely abolish the training center’s previous system and reorganize it under a new name, the Ravenclaw Academy, and then move the entire structure directly to the Duplain territory.

The facilities in the Ravenclaw territory, which previously served as the training center, would be replaced by cultural facilities or social lounges, so that the nobles learning social etiquette or magic at the academy could use them as practice venues.

In short, he planned to move that entire massive complex directly to Duplain.

Once the facilities grew large enough, they would begin to operate without Dereck’s direct presence.

By limiting himself to acting as a supervisor and giving his approval from time to time, his personal time for magic training would remain intact.

“B-but… why go so far in Duplain territory…?”

Leigh, sitting in the seat of honor in the reception hall, stroked his chin and asked.

Dereck silently observed Leigh, who was sweating nervously, and thought for a moment about how to respond.

Several reasons crossed his mind: that the complex had become too large for him to manage alone, that he wanted more free time, or that it was necessary for his own magical advancement, but he felt embarrassed to say any of them directly.

Then, trying to appear like a magnanimous man, he replied.

“I have been linked to the Duplain family for a long time and, above all, it is the place that gave me an opportunity and trusted me when I was nobody. It is an honor to fulfill that obligation.”

At those words, Leigh’s eyes widened.

When Dereck first presented himself to the Duplain family saying he wanted to teach Diella, Leigh had also subconsciously felt a certain superiority of a noble toward that “simple low-born mercenary.”

But now, Dereck was rolling up his sleeves completely to help Duplain just when they needed it most, as if the past didn’t matter.

Leigh was on the verge of bursting into tears.

“Damn it… I see… Dereck… you… you are…!”

During the time Dereck stayed with the Duplain family, Leigh doubted him many times, but in the end, that noble intention of Dereck’s partially moved him.

Regardless of what Dereck’s true intentions were, what mattered was how Leigh interpreted them.

Dereck nodded and then looked toward where Trisha lay in a corner like a corpse.

“I was also thinking of asking for some support from the house of Count Renouel.”

“Ugh… I can’t give you such a simple answer. Do you think the Renouel house helps someone just because they ask?”

“Hello, Lady Trisha. Lord Dereck is also the lord of the Barony of Ravenclaw, and even if you do not have a teacher-disciple relationship or personal closeness, the appropriate thing would be to show respect and use a formal tone; after all, nominally he is the head of a noble house.”

“What…?”

At the sudden interruption, Trisha’s eyes widened, but seeing Aiselin’s sweet gaze, she swallowed hard.

“If Lady Aiselin says so…”

“…”

«In any case, even if Baron Ravenclaw wants something, we cannot always give an affirmative answer. Asking as if it were obvious is taking our Renouel house lightly.»

“Miss Trisha, there is no need to speak in such an aggressive tone…”

“Ugh… ugh…”

Trisha, normally arrogant and haughty, was left speechless when Aiselin gently pointed it out to her.

Dereck looked at both of them indifferently, while Aiselin simply smiled serenely.

Aiselin was terrifying.

After Diella and Siern, now even Trisha seemed to have fallen under her influence.

Everything Aiselin touched ended up becoming docile.

Dereck thought it was a relief that this girl was on his side.

«Our mother, Countess Rodelia, is cold as steel and strict when it comes to separating personal matters from official ones. While she values Baron Ravenclaw highly and would like to have him under her command, the support of our lineage is something that must be evaluated separately.»

Trisha let out a deep sigh, as if her head hurt, and spoke again with a piercing gaze.

“My mother distributes the family budget strictly following the rules of the house, and when it comes to cooperating with external forces, no matter who it is, she analyzes everything from scratch, point by point.”

“…”

«Unfortunately, convincing my mother, who is the decision-maker in the Renouel house, won’t be as easy as you imagine. And don’t expect me to help you. I don’t do anything that goes against my mother’s wishes.»

Having said that, Trisha flashed a flirtatious smile, as if to say, “Don’t think everything is going to go well for you.”

Her presence there was solely due to Countess Rodelia’s orders, in order to create some kind of connection with Dereck and maintain a favorable relationship.

The sensible thing would have been to bow her head a little at times like this, but Trisha had the personality of never allowing anyone to look down on the Renouel family.

Her enormous pride came precisely from the prestige of her lineage.

She was a young woman whose noble pride reached the heights; in short, someone who was difficult to deal with.

“Baron Ravenclaw will have to work quite hard. And we will have to see how events unfold.”

Don’t think you’re going to control the Renouel house.

It won’t be that easy to get our help.

That was what Trisha declared to Dereck, smiling arrogantly.

***

“Of course we should help. The Ravenclaw Academy seems to have good potential as a project, and it is also a good opportunity to strengthen ties.”

“…”

“To be honest, I had my doubts, but you have brought something truly valuable. Trisha, you traveled by carriage to the Duplain territory and achieved a good result. I can’t help but praise you.”

“…”

A young noblewoman raised like a flower in a greenhouse is unaware of an undeniable truth.

Rulers who step into the heat of the battlefield drool over good talent, and when they find it, they do whatever is necessary to obtain it.

It was very similar to the obsession high nobles had with securing a good magic instructor.

Rodelia nodded much faster than anyone would have expected.

Finding a competent assistant was as difficult as finding a needle in the desert.

If she managed to recruit Dereck under her command, that little “support” would be nothing.

«Tell the butler to start negotiations on the details of the support. We have resources to spare: the reward we obtained after the subjugation of Rodentz Island and the spoils of war. There is enough money, and even if we spend a lot on his maintenance, it won’t affect the family finances. Everything will return to normal.»

“I-is it okay to do that? Baron Ravenclaw’s house is still weak…”

“Trisha. Someday you too will have to become someone who leads others, so let me tell you clearly.”

On the training field behind the mansion, Rodelia, who was swinging her sword, took off her sweat-soaked helmet and threw it to the ground, shaking her hands. Then, with a short laugh, she said.

“You have to buy talent when it is at its lowest price.”

“T-that…”

“The young baron is in his prime. If you are not able to see that, you cannot be a ruler. So start developing your ability to judge people right now.”

After expressing that sincerity, Rodelia gave her vote of support to the unification plan Dereck was organizing.

“…”

Trisha looked, stunned, at Countess Rodelia as she returned to the training field.

She, who always checked every last silver coin when paying the medical treatments of her sick uncle or when assigning salaries to her vassals, would never have expected her to agree so easily, so she could only stand there with her mouth open.

Thus, after Duplain, Belmierd, and Beltus, now the Renouel family also joined Dereck’s side.

If one took into account the Beldern mercenaries of Ebelstein and the Rochester house of the north, his support faction was no longer something that could be taken lightly.

Once the Ravenclaw Academy officially opened its doors and began to influence society, practically no noble in the southwestern continent would have enough authority to treat him lightly.

He might even end up rubbing shoulders with the high nobles of the central continent or with the emperor’s direct vassals.

“…”

Trisha, with her arms crossed, swallowed hard and began to think deeply.

As things stood, Dereck had no rivals among the great powers of the southwest. And with a little more time, he could reach a status superior to hers.

Just imagining it, a cold sweat ran down her back.

***

After that, everything went smoothly.

In the Duplain family territory, the authority to make decisions rested entirely with the head of the family, Leigh.

Since he was already convinced, the preparation of the land for construction and the start of the works were carried out quickly.

The magnitude of the building was enormous, practically equivalent to the construction of an entire small city.

They received financial support from everywhere, and even before construction began, countless young nobles were already sending inquiries about admission.

Above all, the four disciples who had received direct teaching from Derek were the ones who suffered the most.

From the perspective of the young nobles of Ebelstein, the only way to obtain information about the Ravenclaw Academy was through those disciples.

And one couldn’t even access all four.

Diella was too fierce to strike up a conversation with.

Siern appeared and disappeared like a ghost, so they couldn’t even find her.

Therefore, the only option was to ask Ellen of Rose Hall or Denise, since at least they were part of the social circle.

Of course, neither of them was going to say anything negative about the Ravenclaw house projects, so the rumors only spoke of the academy’s good development.

Nothing was going wrong. Everything moved forward without obstacles.

However, that did not mean there were no problems.

“Simply going beyond managing a training center and building an academic facility of this size is practically the same as creating a new territory. Most likely, the empire will not sit idly by.”

This went far beyond the level of “building a few buildings in a barony’s territory and receiving students.”

Delbriton, the butler, spoke with a worried expression.

“…”

Dereck had returned to the Barony of Ravenclaw after a while, and was combing Siern’s hair while she sat on his lap.

The girl moved her magic power as if she were playing, but seeing the expression with which Dereck listened to the butler’s words, she let out a snort.

“If you have caught the empire’s attention, you’re in for a real mess, Dereck.”

“Have you had any conflict with the empire before?”

“No. But I remember my father suffering headaches because of them. Above all, he hated the imperial magic advisors. I don’t know the exact reason, but they always bothered him.”

She braided her hair, white as snow, and continued walking barefoot.

Although she had learned quite a bit about the rules of noble etiquette at the training center, wearing shoes still felt terribly uncomfortable to her.

Dereck continued gently combing Siern’s hair and spoke with an indifferent expression.

“The imperial magic advisors… Last time I met someone named Roen, and honestly, he seemed quite fussy to me.”

“He is. But since he was a direct vassal of Emperor Guttrel, not even my father could treat him lightly. Although Roen also knew how to behave properly in front of him.”

Melverot, a six-star combat mage and lord of the Rochester territory, did not dare to treat him badly. That said a lot about his power.

And the leader of those magic advisors…

“Kohella Deinalt Elvester.”

A 6-star transformation mage, chief advisor of the empire, and matriarch of the Elvester family.

The same family to which Dereck’s mistress, Katia Flameheart, belonged.

Kohella was the most influential figure of that lineage. An old fox consumed by her obsession with magic research, one of the most important figures in the magic world.

Sitting on Dereck’s lap, Siern moved her legs and frowned.

“When I was little, I saw that old woman arrive at the Rochester territory.”

Kohella resided in the imperial palace, sought to contact all six-star mages, and maintained a constant relationship with Melverot, Drest, and Kalimford. Any six-star mage who had retired before had met her at least once.

The only exception was Fina, the archmage of the field of death.

“She’s a nasty old woman…”

An old woman who, while exchanging knowledge with 6-star combat mages, dreamed of reaching the 7-star realm.

High-level mages always dream of achieving greater feats. In that desire, they were all the same.

But Kohella was different. Her thirst for knowledge was more like madness than ambition.

She ignored taboos, ethics, and morals. If she could progress, she would sacrifice anything.

Although she was old and her life was very short, her desire never faded. That glint in her eyes was so intense that it intimidated anyone who saw it.

Siern remembered that mage who had arrived at the Rochester territory in the middle of a blizzard. A sinister old woman for whom she could never feel compassion.

“If the educational center is of this scale, surely the magic advisors from the central continent will come to inspect it.”

Delbriton spoke again with a worried voice.

“So it is possible that you will soon have to meet with the chief advisor of the empire. She might even come directly, as rumors have surely already reached her ears.”

Knowing Kohella.

Dereck rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

No matter how he looked at it, nothing good could come of getting involved with that old woman.

“Ow!”

“Sorry.”

Perhaps due to his distraction, the comb got tangled in Siern’s hair, pulling her head.

She held back tears, glared at Dereck, but finally sighed.

At another time, she would have cast a spell to punish the culprit immediately, but she couldn’t do it against Dereck.

If the servants of the house of Rochester saw this, they would be perplexed.

During her stay at the Ravenclaw mansion, Siern had become surprisingly docile.

Of course, only when it came to Dereck or Aiselin.

“The barony’s servants are better than me at these tasks.”

“It’s just… I feel more comfortable with you.”

Siern said this while hugging her legs again.

Dereck observed her in silence and nodded. He knew perfectly well why she behaved that way.

She was a girl whose blood drove her to shed countless lives. It was impossible for her to entrust her life to people who could die in an instant with just one of her spells.

Since she arrived at the Ravenclaw mansion, she hadn’t had any episodes of bloodlust, but she still feared herself.

Dereck murmured softly that he understood, and began to carefully arrange her hair behind her head.

Siern, finally relaxed, moved her neck slightly at the pleasant sensation.

She looked like a small wild animal shedding its fur.