Chapter 153

Chapter 153
Chapter 153
The plan to establish the Ravenclaw Academy was advancing rapidly.

When Dereck headed to the site where the opening calendar was already confirmed and the civil works were in full swing, he felt a strange headache and could not help but press his temples.

“Ah, Sir Dereck! You are here! I heard about the support from Count Renuel’s house. It seems we will be able to expand the auditorium more than planned!”

Aiselin Eleanor Duplain, the noble lady so extraordinarily elegant and distinguished that even Diella, Ellen, and even that beast Trisha had been moved by her, was holding an iron shovel, with a towel draped over her shoulder while she wiped away sweat.

To make matters worse, the hem of her dress was bothering her so much that she had tied it up with a string.

If she was going to do this, she’d be better off not wearing a dress—Dereck thought—but the idea vanished from his mind with Aiselin’s next words.

“Hahaha. I came out for a moment to see how everything was going, but the ground they were preparing for the garden didn’t convince me. You just have to fix the last part a little and that’s it, but calling the workers just for that seemed excessive to me…”

“……”

“I’m done! The soil at the end of this flowerbed needs to be rounder so that when we plant roses or pansies, it looks more harmonious. I once decorated a flowerbed during a flower arrangement class and discovered that if the base of the soil isn’t done well, it’s harder to achieve a nice harmony later. It’s the first time I’ve done it alone, but it has its charm…”

Caring for a flowerbed or doing flower arrangements could be considered an elegant hobby, but deliberately taking a shovel and digging up the dirt was something completely different.

Confused, Dereck ended up slumping onto any bench near the flowerbed.

“Lady Aiselin, I mean…”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

With that innocent expression, almost as if she were wagging her tail, Dereck didn’t even know where to begin to point something out to her.

At first, she had been interested in trade and administration, then in public works and construction, and now she was even doing manual labor on her own.

The Duplain house was already quickly regaining strength, but she still considered herself a fallen noble lady.

The truth was that the Duplain house had gone through a real crisis, so it was not strange that Aiselin, with a somewhat disheveled air, rolled up her sleeves for everything.

However, at this point, some things could become problematic.

“The influence of the Duplain house is starting to grow as quickly as before. Of course, it still cannot compare to its golden age, and the size of the estate has been greatly reduced, but if you regain the authority befitting a duchy, your position will change considerably, Lady Aiselin.”

“You are right! You have helped us so much, Sir Dereck! I will always be grateful to you!”

“Precisely that is why I am telling you this: if you keep behaving like this, it could become problematic.”

“…”

Aiselin also understood, at least in part, what he meant.

She froze as if thinking, “Is it okay for me to be doing this?”. She felt a slight pang of guilt, but even so, she thought.

Ever since her house began to falter, life seemed to acquire meaning.

Instead of being trapped in a cage reading philosophy, learning a bit of magic, and receiving an education befitting a lady, she felt as if she were navigating a world full of turbulent waves.

That stirred something inside her.

But precisely because her efforts had borne fruit, the Duplain house was getting back on the right track.

“I regret having to tell you this, but you should refrain from doing manual labor yourself.”

“W-what do you mean… Sir D-Dereck? There are still many vegetables to look after in the vegetable garden behind the mansion…”

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“…”

“When I went down, I also saw that there was still some dust on the railing of the central staircase in the main lobby… I was planning to finish here and clean it all with the dry cloth I had already prepared…”

“Give orders to the maids.”

“Then… what do I do with the vines on the outer wall? If we leave them, they will take root between the bricks…”

“I will speak to the gardener.”

Dereck lifted his chin slightly and spoke firmly.

“How can the noble young lady of the Duplain house personally perform that kind of work?”

“N-no… it is my joy… it is my only hobby!”

“It is a matter that directly affects the dignity of the house. I cannot give in on this.”

“This weekend I was thinking of making homemade lasagna. I grew those tomatoes for that…”

He remembered those hot summer days when, under a scorching sun, she would remove pests one by one, prune the leaves, water the plants, and then wipe the sweat from her brow with an expression of satisfaction.

“For that… ask the cook and the chef.”

Aiselin opened her mouth as if she had lost the whole world. There was no alternative.

Her social status was too high to do those kinds of things.

When the house was in crisis, the story was different; now that it was regaining strength, she had to act in accordance with her dignity.

“…Sir Dereck. This may sound strange…”

“…”

“Does the Duplain house… have to rise again no matter what…?”

“Of course. Think of your family and your servants, of how much they have suffered…”

“That… is true…”

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Aiselin bit her lower lip, holding back tears.

By nature, she could not ignore her family or her servants in times of difficulty.

There was no escape.

Clang! Clang!

“Move it here! Carefully!”

Aiselin, shrinking a little, sat in the shade silently watching the workers transport construction materials.

“I heard that you completely delegated authority over the school’s staff and students to Lady Diella. Honestly, I was surprised.”

“Oh, really?”

Aiselin must have also been very attentive to the changes in Ebelstein society.

Dereck’s help and her naturally tyrannical temperament had made Diella practically capable of leading the Rose Hall de facto.

Observing these changes, Aiselin seemed half happy, half worried.

“I thought she would find it difficult to deal with people, evaluate them, and handle them, compared to Lady Ellen or Lady Denise.”

“It is true. But I also wanted to give the Duplain house a little boost and, above all, it was necessary for Lady Diella herself.”

While they flipped through the documents together, Dereck spoke in a low voice.

“Dealing with people is a very difficult task, you know that, Lady Aiselin.”

“That… is true.”

Aiselin observed Dereck’s expression for a moment, slowly closed her eyes, and then looked back at the blue sky at the end of winter.

“Diella will have to learn it too.”

Seeing her accept it silently, it was clear that Aiselin was a person who reflected deeply.

Although by nature she acted like a ruined noble, in important moments she always made sound decisions.

Dereck looked at her for an instant, then turned his gaze back to the construction moving at full speed.

“The construction is moving along quite quickly. At this rate, we will meet the schedule without any problems.”

And he simply continued talking about work matters.

***

The cold flooding the corridor of the Elfontaine building showed no signs of dissipating.

That Trisha would suddenly hurl insults at Diella—the worst of the ruffians, a wild mare from the plains—was something no one gathered there could have foreseen.

It wasn’t just a subtle provocation or a battle of glares.

She used such vulgar and rude vocabulary that no one could have imagined a young noble lady would utter it, all to deliberately provoke Diella.

At this point, it wouldn’t have been strange for Diella to raise her hand and slap her.

Given Diella’s history, she had never been someone who cared about the eyes of others.

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Even in a situation like this, watched by countless young noble ladies, if something displeased her, she would kick Trisha and trample her.

However, Diella did not do it. The reason was simply that when something is too absurd, it doesn’t even make you angry.

Did I hear wrong?

Have you gone deaf already? Let’s fight! I’m going to crush that arrogant pride you have.

Bang! Fwoosh!

Suddenly, a gale was unleashed.

That icy wind, created by magic, surged from Diella, upending everything around her.

In the center of the storm, the girl with the bright, waving hair opened her chilling eyes wide.

Before that gaze, so clear even in the dark, the young noble ladies, hothouse flowers, felt their legs tremble.

Trisha was no exception; from her fingernails to her arms and the back of her neck, her skin crawled.

Still, she never showed it. She lifted her head even higher, straightened her nose, and forced a defiant smile.

Lately, the Duplain family has been behaving very arrogantly, and you act as if you were someone important. That look of yours is that of a sacrifice who thinks they can hold on to a thread of hope to survive.

“…”

“Diella. If it weren’t for Lady Aiselin, you would be nothing more than a troublemaker. You have a very bad temper, a dirty mouth, and the only thing you know how to do is humiliate others. And yet, you act as if everything belongs to you. You look like a child with her first toy. It is so pathetic that I am embarrassed to look at you.”

“…You are truly begging to be killed, Trisha.”

Fwooosh! Crack!

Thorny tendrils sprouted from the ground and ice spears floated around her.

Seeing how the magic manifested instantly, without even a prior incantation, it was clear that Diella had already ascended to the 2-star rank.

Diella had such exceptional talent that she didn’t even need Dereck’s intervention.

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She belonged to a completely different category than Trisha, who had barely begun to study 1-star magic.

A wall in the corridor cracked and the heat from the magic began to rise.

No matter what happened to the Elfontaine Building, the only thing occupying Diella’s mind was punishing that insolent young noble in front of her.

‘Not scared, not scared, not scared, not scared, not scared, not scared. No… actually, I am a little scared. No, not that scared. No, not scared at all. Not scared. I don’t know fear. What is fear? What does it mean to be afraid?’

Muttering, Trisha took a step back. She swallowed hard, but she didn’t let the fear reflect on her face. Then she cleared her throat and spoke.

“Diella, you have been delegated authority over the staff of the Ravenclaw group, but it seems you have no intention of exercising that power as your master wishes. You don’t want the number of direct disciples of Baron Ravenclaw to increase. Is that it?”

“What?”

“It’s obvious. But tell me, do you really think that is what Baron Ravenclaw wants? For you to step forward, eliminate the nobles who want to learn, and rule like a tyrant? Do you think that is what he wanted?”

To keep her voice from trembling, Trisha pressed her chin firmly.

‘You think you have all the legitimacy, right? Because Baron Ravenclaw decided to trust your judgment. Too bad. Because your capability doesn’t reach that far.’

What nonsense are you talking about?

“It is not nonsense, it is a fact. The Baron gave you authority, and you only think about using it as you please. Without reason, without motive, simply intoxicated by that power.”

Trisha was so tense that she almost broke into a cold sweat, but gritting her teeth, she maintained an incredibly arrogant expression.

Although it looked like she was going to burst into tears, the only thing she had inherited from her father—the arrogance and the nerve—was, indeed, real.

She had nothing, and if someone hit her she would fly away, but she must never give up.

No matter how arrogant, greedy, or evil she seemed, she must never lower her head.

“You can hit me or insult me, but that truth will never change, Diella.”

The question of legitimacy.

Especially when it comes to delegated power, legitimacy in its exercise is crucial.

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If Diella simply didn’t want the number of Dereck’s disciples to increase, then she had no argument to refute it.

Not even a tyrant ruling the world could act without legitimacy.

And if public opinion pointed her out as an arrogant person who only abused the power entrusted to her, she would also face problems.

That’s why, if she wanted legitimacy, she had to find another approach.

“I don’t care. If you want to argue about that, go to hell.”

Fwooosh!

Hiiik!

Negotiation only exists between equals.

Diella’s face, already distorted by rage, was that of a furious beast. Trying to play word games with someone like that was ridiculous.

Just as Trisha’s vision began to blur.

Zas! Crack! Crack!

It wasn’t a good idea to cause destruction here.

The person who intervened after assessing the situation was the person who held the second position in the Ravenclaw group, the place Trisha dreamed of entering.

The bangs half-tucked, the rest of her hair waving behind her, and eyes as red as her hair.

Ellen of the Belmierd house.

It was the first time they had seen her use magic outside of a dueling hall.

Burn!

The thorny tendrils surrounding Diella, ready to pounce on Trisha, burned and disintegrated completely.

In front of them, with several books in one hand and waving the other that she had just used to channel magic, appeared Ellen.

“Control yourself, Lady Diella. If you want to continue, do it in the dueling arena.”

Trisha pulled her skirt down further to hide the trembling of her thighs.

Ellen, shaking off the flames, shifted her gaze slightly, narrowing her eyes.

Trisha already expected it.

In a situation like this, Ellen would never remain silent. She was a fair and firm defender of principles.

“And although Lady Trisha was too harsh, what she said is not incorrect. A principle must be something everyone can accept.”

Seeing that Diella calmed down a little, Ellen also lowered her stance slightly.

“Of course, as I said in the last meeting, I will respect Lady Diella as much as possible. But if your actions begin to affect the rules of the Rose Hall, I also have a stance to take and I cannot stand idly by.”

“Fine. I admit what I must admit. I was too worked up.”

Diella let out a long sigh. But, perhaps because her anger had not disappeared, she stared at Trisha again, forcing her to hold her breath.

“You are right. It is not good to decide and announce everything according to my whim. You say I have no legitimacy, right?”

“…”

It was strange that Diella responded with such obedience. She was surely plotting something.

“Very well. Then I will establish a clear criterion. If you want your name to appear in the Ravenclaw group, you will have to prove your worth. Prove clearly that you are not inferior to the others. Only then will I be able to accept you as the youngest, or not.”

“So… are you proposing a magic duel?”

“It doesn’t sound bad. But I am too busy to face you. And I don’t want to see your face. So go and defeat the one at the very bottom of the Ravenclaw group’s hierarchy.”

Having said that, Diella gestured with her hand and turned around.

“…”

Trisha mentally reviewed the group’s hierarchy.

And upon remembering who had ended up in last place, she had to hold her breath. Diella, at least, acted with logic.

But there was someone who went even further than that.

A person so reckless that it was impossible to imagine how Dereck had managed to make her his disciple.

If you irritated her, you died.

In front of her, an indescribable murderous intent was perceived.

That girl had crushed northern beasts with her own hands and had been soaked countless times in human blood.

“Me?”

A deep voice emerged from among the crowd.

The ash-gray haired girl, sitting lazily while playing with a lock of hair, spoke, and people instinctively opened a path for her.

Sitting on a luxurious sofa against the wall, stroking her hair, the young woman radiated a chill that made the spine tremble just by speaking.

Normal people wouldn’t be able to identify the source of that fear.

They didn’t understand why the gaze of that killer who had killed so many people was so terrifying.

She sensed that the murderous intent belonged to the realm of the sixth sense.

The youngest mage in the entire region to reach 3 stars.

Siern Alaina Rochester opened her eyes and stared fixedly at Trisha.

“Are you going to fight me?”

Before that simple question asked without emotion, the heaviness of the corridor seemed to multiply.

The fact that someone like her was the “youngest” of the group showed how deranged the Ravenclaw group was.

Trisha swallowed hard.

Could she nod her head here?

A few gestures would be enough to kill her.

One had to distinguish between bravery and recklessness.

It was time to bow her head. The impossible was impossible. No one could blame her for running from such a situation.

Trying to hide the chill running down her back, Trisha straightened up and looked around.

Diella, dedicated since childhood to the study of wild magic, was a 2-star mage with mastery of ice and plant magic.

Ellen, who carried the weight of the Belmierd house, was preparing to rule the world like a monarch. And Siern, who was a monster in herself.

After observing Dereck’s disciples one by one, Trisha closed her eyes.

A light laugh escaped her. Had she lost her mind? No. It was just a strange feeling.

‘It’s always like this.’

That she could keep smiling in a situation like this was ridiculous.

‘All these bastards are geniuses.’

Giant mountains rising towards the sky.

And she, a small hill among them.

What would change if she lamented, despaired, or bowed her head before a level impossible to reach?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She remembered a clenched fist.

That old banker kept his fist clenched in front of young Trisha, as if trying to instill strength in her.

Behind that clenched fist appeared the smile of a father who was no longer there.

In his eyes hid complex emotions. He looked like the face of a man who had seen his daughter’s limits.

“If it has to be done, it’s done. The standard is clear, how nice. Hahaha.”

It was not the stance of a noble heroine facing absolute evil.

In the eyes of the young noble ladies gathered there, Trisha, laughing and raising her voice, looked like nothing more than an ignorant girl who didn’t know her place.

A third-rate villain.

An unbearable commoner.

A hopeless braggart.

No matter how they saw her, Trisha had no intention of cowering.

“Then, come on, go ahead.”

Fwoooooosh!

And so, in the magic arena of the Elfontain Building, Siern appeared wrapped in a torrent of magic so vast that it was impossible to measure at a glance, dominating the field with her sovereign presence.

With just a touch of her finger, everything seemed on the verge of collapsing.

The beast of the northern snowy steppe unleashed a murderous intent capable of subduing an entire pack of wolves.

It was too late to back down. The magic emanated with such intensity that not even the protective barriers of the place seemed capable of containing it.

That was the “youngest”.

The one of lowest rank among Dereck’s disciples.

“….”

Before that storm of magic, Trisha held on tightly to the edges of her skirt and thought.

Actually, now that I think about it again, this is not right.

The only good thing was that, being far from the observer zone, no one would see the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes.