There Are No Bad Young Ladies in the World

Derek (2)

Eberstein is a city with a thousand faces.

It was one of the drunken ramblings of the romantics in the taverns.

But it wasn’t just drunken nonsense. Indeed, a city of this scale, accommodating hundreds of thousands, was hard to find across the entire continent.

Only in the ash-covered slums, where one is constantly pushed and pulled, does the city feel like a giant prison.

Yet, stepping out and walking through the city, one realizes that the tavern drunks’ words aren’t entirely baseless.

Derek left the slums behind, crossed the commercial district, and walked along the coast crowded with docks.

Standing quietly on the coast, one could feel a vitality swirling through the city, a stark contrast to the silent back alleys where the poor settled.

The shouts of laborers. The creaking and rocking of ships against the slapping waves.

Weaving through the workers carrying crates of seafood since dawn, he continued to climb the stairs leading to the heart of the city.

Walking towards the direction of the imposing city walls, turning into alleys several times, the mercenary tavern street finally revealed itself.

Even early in the morning, the damp alleys were filled with rough mercenaries ready to kill for a few silver coins.

A desolate sight of deadly weapons lined up. A place where decent citizens wouldn’t dare to come near.

In this metropolis where civilization had firmly taken root, the wild still held its ground.

*

Derek’s second mentor was a widow named Katia Flameheart.

She was the former lady of the now-fallen Flameheart viscountcy, having defied the empire and been caught in its snare. Now, she was an elderly woman with wrinkles on her forehead and the beginnings of gray hair.

Women of fallen nobility often couldn’t bridge the gap in their standard of living and usually met with unfortunate ends. Though beautiful, their descent into lowly status often led to similar fates.

Yet, resilient women became teachers for commoners, learned trade, or, if lucky, entered noble households as governesses.

After all, having lived as noble ladies, there was no better workforce for teaching young ladies.

But Katia was an even more unusual case than those ‘well-resolved’ noblewomen. She didn’t take up the pen, nor did she bow her head to other noble families.

A three-star mage, she chose to walk the mercenary path, slaying monsters and living off the fees she earned.

Instead of dress hems, she wrapped herself in a worn cloak, and instead of a quill at her waist, she wore a dagger as she walked the mercenary tavern streets. Despite her small stature, she adapted well to the brutal mercenary life.

For a woman of noble birth, she lived a raw life indeed.

“You know how to use magic.”

It was by chance that she met Derek, who was sitting in a corner of the tavern, chewing on poor-quality barley bread. It had been just over four years since Derek had entered the mercenary world and started to make a name for himself.

Dust-covered white hair in disarray, chillingly red eyes peered up at Katia through the strands. A hint of magic lingered in those eyes, distinct from the nobility’s.

Gazing at the sharp gaze unique to those from the streets, Katia closed and opened her eyes several times, deeply.

“…Me? Are you talking to me?”

“Yes.”

Derrick quietly observed Katia, who had suddenly addressed him.

There were a few reasons he had rolled into the mercenary life.

First, he had to survive. No matter one’s lowly origins, as long as one was willing to risk their life, there was always some task to be undertaken in the mercenary grounds.

From catching rats in an old warehouse to killing minor monsters on the outskirts of the city. Derrick, with his understanding of 1-star magic, could handle such tasks to some extent.

Second, he needed to meet people.

The old man who had taught him the basics of magic was now gone. Magic could be self-taught to a certain degree, but nothing was as efficient as meeting a good teacher.

Even in the brutal world of mercenaries, occasionally, individuals skilled in magic appeared. Those full of stories, relying on taking orders to survive, were everywhere.

There was a desire, like fate, to learn magic from some of these figures. However, altruistic mages rolling in the mercenary field were almost nonexistent.

The initial plan was to roll around for about a year and hopefully meet someone decent, but that plan had now entered its fourth year.

The kid of barely ten years was starting to show signs of youth. But to the battle-hardened mercenaries, he was still a greenhorn, blood yet to dry on his head.

Sometimes beaten by thuggish mercenaries, and at other times, managing to land a few blows with his limited magic skills, Derrick’s time in the mercenary field had fostered a tenacious side.

“…How old are you now?”

Perhaps anticipating Derrick’s all-too-obvious past, Katia took a deep, calming breath.

She, too, was a veteran who had rolled enough in this field. It was an environment where one had to become stingy with help. She had seen too many pitiful souls and usually passed by without a glance, living her life. There were no people without stories here.

But there was one significant difference between Derrick and those story-laden folks of the mercenary field. It was his age.

Derrick was too young.

The image of her own son, who could no longer be seen, playing innocently in the mansion’s courtyard, flickered before her eyes.

Though of similar age, this boy was already trying to earn his keep among the savage mercenaries with his insufficient magic. It was a scene more poignant than admirable.

She thought it was a story of the past, but she couldn’t help being a mother.

Even if she had lost her child, a mother remains a mother until death.

*

“Magic is no different from other disciplines. Theory and practice are completely separate entities. Always remember that you must value both the depth of theory and the experience of practice.”

Katia occasionally reviewed Derrick’s magic whenever they crossed paths at the tavern.

At first, Derrick was somewhat hesitant, but he needed a teacher after all. He quickly absorbed Katia’s teachings, beginning to grasp proper magical theories he hadn’t learned from the old man.

“You must clearly understand your own level to improve.”

There were many schools of magic, but the most mainstream was the noble’s rule-based school.

They divide the levels of magic hastily. By those standards, Katia was a three-star magician.

Even the renowned noble magicians had to struggle greatly to reach the three-star realm.

Occasionally, prodigies who entered three-star magic around their coming-of-age ceremony would emerge, but even they appeared only once every few years. Most could only reach three stars when wrinkles began to form on their faces.

If even nobles found it so, reaching three stars was nearly impossible for commoners. There was a reason why magicians from three stars upwards were called ‘advanced magicians.’

In short, finding a teacher as capable as Katia was a difficult story.

“In actual combat, to what extent have you used magic?”

“I haven’t used any particularly great magic. Just small things like lighting a fire in the dark, or detecting the directions of east, west, north, and south…”

“Considering one star as the standard, it’s not a very strong level, but given your age, it’s an excellent level.”

A corner of the tavern where drunkards shouted was not a good environment for magic lessons.

But both Katia and Derek were humans who had become accustomed enough to such chaotic environments.

“However, with just an ordinary level, you can’t even enter the threshold of two stars. You don’t need to master two-star magic completely; if you learn the basics to some extent, you’ll have no major problems in making a living for life… Aim for at least that much.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

Katia herself didn’t have such grand intentions.

Lost maternal love and a grain of sympathy. That was about the extent of the goodwill she intended to throw before leaving.

It was impossible to fully master two-star magic for a commoner child who wasn’t born with proper lineage.

Just giving a taste of the threshold of two-star magic would be a great weapon for the boy’s future livelihood. That was the extent of her kindness.

Thus, Katia spent a long time with Derek, showing and mastering various magics.

*

The combination of a magic prodigy from the slums and an aged, fallen noble was rare to see even in the mercenary world, so occasionally there were those who showed curiosity.

However, the relationship between Katia and Derek was not as special as one might think. After all, Katia was someone who had spent a long time in the mercenary underworld. She knew well that excessive affection could cause unnecessary problems.

Derek also somewhat agreed with Katia’s values, so he didn’t intend to unnecessarily confuse her.

“You must have mastered magic through practical experience, but you also need to be familiar with the basic theory. Do you know that magic is fundamentally divided into five categories?”

“Combat, transformation, bewilderment, summoning, exploration. Those are the five, right?”

“Yes. It seems the old man you mentioned has established the basics for you. There are various grades of magic in each category. If you can cast even one two-star magic, you can proudly call yourself a two-star magician.”

Teaching continued even in the middle of the bustling tavern.

If you can cast even one two-star magic, you can proudly call yourself a two-star magician. Of course, even among two-star magicians, there’s a hierarchy depending on whether you can barely handle one or master a variety of two-star magics.

However, symbolism is important. Even if it’s just barely, the status of someone who can cast a two-star magic changes completely.

For nobles, two-star magicians are more common than you’d think, but for commoners, it’s a realm that’s absolutely unreachable without considerable effort and talent.

“As a magician, you can’t help but have the desire to ascend. Therefore, most prefer to quickly learn higher-grade magic in areas that suit them, rather than evenly mastering a variety of magics.”

“In short, magicians tend to specialize in different areas.”

“You catch on quickly, Derek. It’s most important to swiftly discern what your true talents are.”

“…I want to master everything.”

Katia set down a mug filled with cold water and looked at Derek with tired eyes.

“Excessive greed will only delay your achievements. Remember my words.”

“…Understood.”

Katia is a third-tier chaos mage.

Although she knows only a few third-tier spells, she was versatile with second-tier magic.

She might not be able to elevate Derek’s realm immediately, but she could at least point him in the right direction.

“Perhaps you could have grasped the first-tier magic through repeated real battles, but from the second-tier, you need to practice continuously feeling and controlling the mana within.”

“I roughly got the hang of it. Using mana feels like wielding some kind of energy inside me, right?”

“Yes. Having substantial real battle experience will work in your favor. Can you sense the flow of mana I release and try to manifest it similarly?”

Katia extended her hand over the wooden table, manipulating the mana in various directions.

Following Katia’s lead, Derek felt his own mana.

The amount of innate mana within him was considerable. Indeed, he was too precious a talent to rot away in the slums.

Even with just the teachings of a boastful old man, he had awakened the basics of first-tier magic, and with his rough real battle experience, he had also come to understand the operation of mana.

‘If he had been born with noble blood… would this child’s life have been completely different?’

Katia had seen too many mediocre mages who relied solely on their lineage to strut around as mages.

While observing Derek’s magical aptitude, Katia felt a complex mix of emotions, but now it was nothing new.

The times are always unfair. Katia, who had lived long enough, knew this well. Becoming unnecessarily sentimental only hindered one’s survival.

It was during such a transfer of various mana operations.

– Bang!

Derek, as if realizing something, made a refreshing expression and then suddenly released the mana he had been led by all at once.

In that moment, Katia’s brows furrowed sharply.

– Whooosh! Bang!

– Boommmmm!

A massive explosion filled the tavern.

“What, what’s that…!”

“What’s happening…!”

Mercenaries scattered throughout the shabby tavern, who had been unwinding, suddenly grabbed their weapons and looked around.

A collapsing sound, as if a building had fallen, enveloped the tavern, and it resonated with a deafening roar.

The mercenaries all took up battle positions, but no matter how much they looked around, nothing seemed amiss.

Even a glance outside the window showed a peaceful world, and the tavern had remained unchanged before and after the explosion.

“What was that…? There was definitely a loud noise…!”

“Hey! Innkeeper! Look around, will you! There must be something!”

In the midst of that chaos, Katia looked down at Derek.

Derek was also quietly looking up at Katia.

“Master. Just now…”

– Thwack!

Before Derek could say another word, Katia grabbed his arm and quickly walked out of the tavern.

*

Katia then led Derek by the arm into the dim alleyways off the tavern street.

Her pace was so brisk that Derek, with his shorter stride, had to half-run to keep up with her.

Holding onto his arm tightly enough to leave marks, Katia walked and walked, and then walked some more, away from the tavern where the explosion had sounded.

They turned several corners in the alley, delving deep into the backstreets filled with the smell of food waste.

During their walk, Derek felt a strange air about them and couldn’t bring himself to say anything. It was the first time he had seen Katia so resolute.

Only when they had gone quite a distance did Katia finally stop and turn to face Derek, lowering her stance.

“Derek.”

Complexity was etched on Katia’s face. It was hard to guess why she wore such a serious expression.

All Derek could do was look back at Katia with worried eyes.

Katia closed her eyes tightly, then opened them as if to gather her thoughts.

She had been a noble lady in her youth, later the lady of the Flameheart family, and now she was a mercenary wandering without a title.

Even though she was a lower noble, she had been part of the social circle. That’s why Katia knew the nobles’ way of thinking and their physiology quite well. That was the reason for her stern expression.

“…”

For commoners, magic was more a means of survival than a sophisticated etiquette.

Among the commoners, there were often magicians of the first star. And like beans in a drought, second-star magicians would appear. And once in tens of thousands, a third-star magician would emerge.

Mostly, they were middle-aged people who had lived with magic all their lives.

A fourteen-year-old boy, whose life’s length and density were completely different from theirs, had not even dried blood on his head.

“Listen carefully, Derek. The magic you just used is called ‘Auditory Hallucination,’ a type of delusion magic. It spreads intangible sounds over a certain range, often used to disrupt and confuse enemies.”

“I had roughly imagined something like that.”

“Yes. And that is─ a second-star delusion magic.”

A commoner endowed with exceptional magical talent is held in awe even by the nobility for his will and effort. Yet, there was a ceiling to that level.

It is indeed the age of the nobles.

Magic is a power akin to a privilege of the nobility, the source of pride in their lineage.

There are lines even they must not cross.

“…”

Inborn power is considered a blessing, but excessive extraordinariness without knowing bounds can sometimes act as a poison in this era.

This was why Katia’s expression turned grave upon witnessing Derrick’s magic.