Noble Lady Reformation Guide

Boom! Crack! Crack-crack-crack!

The flames that rose took on a spherical shape and began to float in the air.

It was not just one, but dozens of enormous fireballs suspended in the void.

For an average mage, manifesting even a single one of those spheres would be enough to leave them exhausted.

However, Dereck was controlling several dozen at the same time.

Each one advanced in a different direction, with different levels of power, demanding a completely irregular response.

And as if that were not enough, Dereck advanced with sword in hand.

If one were not extremely accustomed to individual combat, they would be exhausted in a matter of seconds.

Crash! Crack!

Every time Dereck swung his sword, spears of ice emerged from the ground, attempting to pierce his opponent.

Each one was so sharp that, if struck directly, it would pierce the body without difficulty.

Fire and ice.

Two opposing magics that, in perfect harmony, pressured the enemy from all angles.

As they collided with each other, they filled the battlefield with scalding vapor.

Sizzle!

Amid that sound, Dereck’s attacks did not stop.

Allowing even a single one through would result in a fatal blow.

Whoosh! Slam! Boom!

However, his opponent was a 6-star mage, someone who had reached the pinnacle of the magical world.

A master of confusion magic, capable of deceiving even the world itself and violating memories.

No matter how absurd Dereck’s magical capability was, the difference in hierarchy remained abysmal.

Even so, the young woman bearing Aiselin’s appearance managed, staggering, to endure the attacks.

From her eyes, nose, and ears, from every orifice of her face, blood flowed without stopping.

The curse engraved into her body, originating from the 5-star artifact, the Book of Longing, dug into her flesh, mercilessly evaporating her magic and trying to tear her life away.

It was a curse so absurd that even exceptional combatants would fall immediately.

Even so, gritting her teeth, she continued to respond to Dereck’s attacks.

“Ha… huff… huff…”

The young woman made a large leap backward, increasing the distance between them.

She once again covered her body in dark red magic and attempted to manifest an advanced confusion spell, but failed.

“Huff… huff…!”

Blood burst forth again, and her consciousness began to fade.

She stabbed a dagger created with magic into her own shoulder.

The pain brought her back to reality.

‘My magic is evaporating at an absurd speed… at this rate… I’ll be exhausted…’

While taking refuge in the forest shrouded in darkness, she scattered illusions around herself.

But Dereck was a veteran mercenary who had spent his life hunting monsters in forests and plains.

He was not fooled by cheap illusions and advanced with steady steps, rapidly closing the distance.

‘Not everything is bad… at least, Kohella’s barrier has already collapsed… considering its scale, she won’t be able to manifest it again for some time…’

With her legs trembling, the young woman ran among the trees, gritting her teeth.

By reading Linus’s memories, she had also taken on the curse of the grimoire, but in exchange she fully understood the flow of that mad gambler’s plan.

She confirmed that Kohella’s barrier had completely collapsed.

And she also learned that Kohella was on her way.

‘The curse of a 5-star book is terrifying, yes… but not to the point of killing me instantly… if I can adjust my magic, keep myself alive right now, and slowly erase the mark over three or four days… I can recover…’

It might take years to fully heal.

But if she managed to escape, she could disappear.

It was a curse that even great mages rarely survived.

Even so, as a 6-star mage, she managed to hold on at the limit.

As long as she had time.

That is, if she could shake off that veteran mercenary who was pursuing her right now.

Even in a place where people died, memories were violated, and death could arrive at any instant, that man maintained absolute calm.

If she could get rid of him.

She could escape.

Almost all of her magic had evaporated because of the Book of Longing, but her original reserves were so immense that they did not vanish all at once.

Before her magic was completely exhausted, she had to defeat that 4-star mage pursuing her and leave the grounds of the Academy.

That was what she thought.

Crash! Boom!

The young woman stumbled over a root and rolled across the ground.

She tried to push herself up from the blood-soaked mud, but her trembling arms did not respond.

“Huff… huff… the magic…”

No matter how terrifying the curse of a 5-star book was, it could not evaporate all the magic of a 6-star mage in a single blow.

And yet, she had almost none left.

The cause was obvious.

The image of Princess Roselin, seated on the railing of the Bellos Pavilion of the Academy, observing the world with a cold gaze, appeared in her mind.

Even trapped in that helplessness, never giving up, the princess had fought to the very end.

That constant effort, even if it seemed futile, had gradually devoured the young woman’s magic little by little.

Not stopping, continuing to move, trying to awaken everyone by any means possible.

That had exhausted even the last shred of magic she should have had left.

Boom!

Gathering her strength with difficulty, the young woman fired a 1-star spell, “Mana Arrow,” at Dereck.

He advanced through the bushes and dispersed it with a simple motion of his hand.

To subdue a full-fledged 4-star mage like Dereck, it was essential to use advanced magic.

Normally, she had many spells of that level at her disposal.

But now, with enormous amounts of magic evaporating second by second, all of that was useless.

The forest was filled with lush trees.

Through the leaves, the moonlight filtered faintly.

And under that glow, the hunter advanced step by step, determined to bring down the monster that had reached the pinnacle of confusion magic.

Beyond the forest, Dereck’s red eyes are revealed as he readjusts his grip on his sword, shakes his cloak, and advances, his leather boots dragging slightly.

The information that can be drawn from that scene is neither complex nor difficult.

If she is caught, she dies.

The instant that brief and decisive fact is engraved in her mind, strength surges back into the young woman’s arms.

She propels herself up and gets to her feet, crossing the forest as the hem of her dress drags along the ground.

Although she maintains Aiselin’s appearance, her hair is completely loose and her body is covered in wounds.

Soaked in blood and in shambles, it gives the impression that, even with that form, she no longer resembles Aiselin at all.

Thud!

Thus, the young woman collapses once more in the middle of the forest, limited to gasping with difficulty.

Blood flows without stopping and begins to spread around her like a puddle.

When Dereck reaches her from directly behind, she rests her body against the cut trunk of a tree, breathing roughly, as if she has given up.

“Huff… huff… so it was the Book of Longing created by Kohella… without a doubt… it weighs heavily… huff…”

“…”

“Ha… ha… I never would have imagined it… at least, the memories of everyone inside this barrier were completely in the palm of my hand…”

From the wound in her shoulder, blood continues to gush out without stopping.

The young woman presses her shoulder tightly, but she cannot stop the bleeding.

“Now… now I understand everything… huff…”

Dereck used the fact that he would use the Book of Longing as bait to draw a 6-star confusion mage to himself.

From her point of view, she could not afford to ignore that lure.

If Dereck truly created an unexpected variable by using the book, her plan would collapse.

At the very moment when all of her attention was focused on Dereck, Linus obtained the brief window he needed to structure his plan.

While she kept her gaze fixed on Dereck, Linus went to find Kohella, explained the entire plan to her in an instant, and pressured her to weaken the barrier.

Up to this point, Dereck, Roselin, Kohella, and Linus did not share the plan nor express it out loud even once.

Because the moment they did so, in any form, the plan would reach the ears of the confusion mage.

That was why each of them simply did what they could.

The construction grounds of the Ravenclaw Academy, illuminated by a bright moon.

The academic garden, where Kohella advances with firm steps, guiding the mages toward the forest.

The Bellos Pavilion, where Roselin lifts her exhausted body and, staggering, raises her gaze toward the magic circle in the sky.

The imperial bedroom, where Linus, seated in an ornate chair, lowers his head as he bleeds out and lets out a dry laugh.

The forest beside the training field, where Dereck cuts through the undergrowth with a sharp gaze, pursuing the young woman.

Each of them, from their own position, plays their best card.

The sum of those independently chosen decisions manages to seize a 6-star confusion mage, who had been walking above all logic, by the neck and slam her to the ground.

The result is her herself, rolling on the earth while spitting blood.

“Let’s negotiate…”

The young woman with Aiselin’s appearance spoke with difficulty, coughing up blood.

“I’ve read… part of your memories… you want to become a mage of an even higher level, don’t you?”

“…”

“Huff… now that the barrier has collapsed, the escape route is completely open. With just a horse… you can flee. If you help me do so… I’ll transmit part of my confusion magic to you…”

The positions had completely reversed.

Now, the one looking down at the other, with the moon as a backdrop, was Dereck.

He shook his sword once and, with his back to the moon, looked again at the dying young woman.

“When you escape Kohella’s control… I’ll teach you magic. You’re especially talented in confusion magic… more than Drest, Melverot, or Kalimford… you can reach a level far higher than theirs. Take my hand… take my hand…”

Dereck’s cold gaze does not change.

The masters who trained him were always individuals of great caliber.

The young woman before him was no exception.

She knew perfectly well that Dereck would not let an opportunity like this pass.

Dereck, like the deranged Kohella, was a man completely obsessed with magic.

“It’s true, it’s a tempting proposal. It’s not common to receive direct instruction from a 6-star confusion mage.”

“Huff… cough…”

“If such an opportunity appears, it would be normal to take advantage of it.”

The young woman, bleeding, forced a smile.

As expected, this man was capable of anything in order to reach a greater level of magical mastery.

“Normally, I would say yes.”

“…What?”

“It’s a good opportunity, but how am I supposed to trust you? You are a master of confusion magic.”

No matter how good an opportunity was, if it could not be secured, it made no sense.

Dereck knew that well.

Now she was bleeding out and without magic, but once she recovered physically and mentally, there was no guarantee that she would keep her word.

A mage capable of erasing memories and manipulating even perception—why would she bother honoring a promise?

Paradoxically, that power that surpassed all limits was precisely what made her impossible to trust.

She was someone no one could trust.

Because there was no reason to.

That was why Dereck tightened his grip on his sword.

The negotiation was over.

“You… you had a necromancy mage as your master…”

“…”

“If you hand Kohella over to me… I’ll reveal that fact… and the existence of a 6-star necromancer will also come to light…”

“Do whatever you want.”

If persuasion did not work, then threats.

But not even the last struggle of a young woman on the brink of death managed to break Dereck’s calm.

“Even if Lady Kohella heard that, do you really think she would care?”

“…”

With anyone else, it might have worked, but Kohella was a lunatic obsessed with magic.

If a 6-star mage existed, she tried to recruit them; if there was high-level magic, she studied it tirelessly.

She was not bound even by the limits of morality or discipline.

Violating taboos without hesitation was the way that madwoman operated.

To capture a 6-star confusion mage, she was capable of coldly using even the death of a subordinate who had served under her orders for more than a decade.

If she were to learn what had happened with Fina, not only would she not consider it a problem, she would probably sketch a smile filled with ecstasy.

“Besides, do you think she would even believe your story?”

Even if she suddenly accused Dereck of being a necromancy mage, it would make no sense.

With her mana exhausted and cornered, even if the emperor’s assassin pointed to Dereck as a heinous criminal in the last of last moments, what importance would it have?

With others, something might be attempted, but Princess Roselin would never trust her nor forgive her.

No confusion magic or logical reasoning worked on Roselin.

She bore an anti-magic engraving and was a daughter sunk in grief over the loss of her father.

“Huff… huff…”

There was no way to persuade Dereck.

There was also no way to threaten him.

It was a dead end.

***

A night brightly illuminated by moonlight.

Aiselin, who was staying as a guest at Count Renuel’s house, was seated in a corner of the garden, gazing at the night sky.

Although that place was quite far from the Duchy of Duplain, her heart still pointed in that direction.

‘Now that I think about it, the inspection itinerary must already be coming to an end. I’m sure Sir Dereck has handled it well on his own, but even so, I can’t help but worry…’

As time passed alone in that quiet and peaceful place, Aiselin raised her gaze toward the moon and, suddenly, carefully clasped her hands to pray.

‘Please, let the Ravenclaw Academy be inaugurated without any accidents occurring.’

For the past three days, inside Kohella’s barrier that had blocked all contact with the outside, no one knew what had happened.

And Aiselin, who was even outside Count Renuel’s territory, had no way of finding out.

The only thing she could do was pray that the efforts made so far would finally bear fruit, while the stars embedded in the sky like grains of salt reflected in her eyes.

There is no eternal night.

Sooner or later, it always comes to an end.

In the forest within the grounds of the Ravenclaw Academy.

When Kohella arrived at the place, Dereck was shaking his sword in front of the blood-soaked young woman.

With his reddish eyes half-lidded, Dereck turned his gaze back.

Upon seeing that scene, Kohella silently closed her mouth.

The image of Dereck, holding the young woman under the moonlight, was engraved in the eyes of the imperial guards.

All those present at that place were witnesses.

He had run back and forth to save the nobles there, even willing to use the Book of Longing.

And even when his own life was in danger, he had placed himself on the front line and personally captured the emperor’s assassin, a 6-star criminal.

Along the way, he had also avenged Princess Roselin’s resentment.

And Princess Roselin was one of the strongest candidates to become the next empress.

However, she did not have a single truly reliable noble under her command.

That was because she did not place much faith in the current bureaucratic nobility.

‘…’

Kohella understood it by instinct.

The internal and external circumstances fit together perfectly.

‘It won’t be long before we meet again at the Gremport Palace.’

The moment what had happened here began to spread, the internal political situation would fall into chaos.

And in the midst of a scenario where the emperor had been assassinated, if someone emerged as a new figure within the central nobility—

That person was already decided.

Dereck sheathed his sword once more and, upon looking at Kohella, nodded silently.

It was a signal for her to confirm the scene.

If the merit of what had occurred were to be evaluated, it was an achievement worthy, at the very least, of a viscount’s title or even one equivalent to that of a count.