Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 117: Fina (4)

“These are the things I saw at the Ravenclaw Training Center. Father, I share my brother Robenalt’s opinion. Unless a major change occurs, in a few years the Ravenclaw territory will have significant influence in Ebelstein’s social circle.”

Denise, the most intelligent young woman of the Beltus family, was precisely reporting to Grand Duke Beltus what she had confirmed.

The Grand Duke Beltus, with his stern face, stroked his mustache several times with a rather displeased expression.

He had been persuaded by his eldest son, Robenalt, to overlook the granting of the baronial title to Baron Ravenclaw, but now that the situation had reached this point, that man’s actions were suspicious.

He had known Dereck Lydorf, Baron of Ravenclaw, for a long time. Even the Beltus family had once entrusted Dereck with Denise’s social education.

At that time, Dereck had been nothing more than a simple private tutor, but somehow, he had become the owner of a great training center.

Education often became the foundation of power.

The fact that Baron Dereck’s disciples were infiltrating Ebelstein’s social circle meant that he was gaining direct influence over Ebelstein.

All power begins with winning over people.

The rise of a new force, with several nobles as disciples, beginning to stir up the territory right next to the domain of Duke Beltus, was not a welcome development.

To win a war, it is good to take the high ground. And to win a power struggle, it is important to dominate public opinion in the social circle.

Understanding this perfectly, Duke Beltus had been supporting Denise—who was making a name for herself in Ebelstein’s social circle—in every possible way.

“This is not pleasant news. The fact that future socialites are passing through that place means it is becoming the center of the social circle.”

“Do you really think so? Its scale wasn’t that impressive.”

“Scale doesn’t matter. You know this, Denise. The main base of the social circle of the eastern continent was, at first, the port city of Roboff, but eventually it moved to the Elvester mansion after the count built all sorts of cultural facilities in his territory.”

The base of the social circle in the southwestern continent was the noble district of Ebelstein, but that of the eastern continent was the Elvester Count’s mansion.

That place, which had become so grand that it was hardly appropriate to call it a mansion anymore, was famous for hosting all kinds of cultural events—stage performances, tours of famous minstrels, the largest tea parties, and numerous gatherings throughout the year.

With that place within his territory, Count Elvester stood at the pinnacle of noble culture, and his only daughter, Freya, was regarded as the noblest figure of all.

If Aiselin was in the Ebelstein social circle, then Freya was in the eastern one.

To the point that it was easy to name Freya as one of the queens of the social circle, it was not difficult to understand how important it was to seize the center of such a circle.

And Freya’s personal teacher was Katia Flameheart, former lady of a fallen viscount family.

She was now famous as the greatest instructor of magic in the entire eastern continent.

“Not long ago, Duplain, who was the most troublesome, lost power. The throne of the Ebelstein social circle remains vacant, and this is a transitional period. I do not want unnecessary variables to arise just when the Viscount of Renouel is on the rise.”

Duke Beltus spoke solemnly from his office chair.

“It seems we cannot leave that training center unmonitored.”

Denise’s face began to darken slightly. She seemed to know what the duke was about to say.

“Find any pretext. We must restrain the growth of the Ravenclaw territory.”

“…”

“For now, it’s not easy to find a good pretext, but if anyone can find one, it’s you, Denise. You’ve been in contact with that baron and have maintained a close relationship.”

Duke Beltus intended to restrain Baron Ravenclaw and put Denise in charge of that plan.

Since Denise was the one with the widest reach in Ebelstein’s social circle within the Beltus family, it was a natural choice.

“Create a pretext to control that man. Meet with him as often as possible, stay close, and find his weaknesses.”

Seeing Duke Beltus’s confident smile, Denise lowered her head and replied softly.

“Understood.”

Creak.

After finishing her morning greeting and stepping out into the corridor, Denise wore a tired expression. Though she had just woken up, she already felt exhausted.

“Lady Denise, are you feeling unwell?”

“No, Bella.”

Denise replied that she was fine, waving her arms a little, then stood for a moment in the corridor with a complicated expression before finally letting out a deep sigh.

“I expected this, but it ended up like this after all.”

The mountains of the Beltus domain, visible through the window, were already adorned with brightly colored autumn leaves.

Autumn had fully arrived.

*

Aiselin enjoyed autumn night walks.

Sitting in the cool night air—neither cold nor warm—and gazing at the bright full moon made her feel as if she had arrived in another world.

Especially because, unlike her home, the Duplain mansion, Baron Ravenclaw’s mansion lacked a splendid or luxurious atmosphere. The small but well-kept garden couldn’t remain perfectly neat, so there was the occasional pleasure of finding wildflowers growing beyond the flowerbeds.

Sitting in the tranquil night air, organizing the schedule for the next day, the overwhelming workload and family crisis felt like stories from a distant dream.

This small pastime—enjoying a dreamlike sense of escape—was one of the secrets that allowed Aiselin to always smile so naturally in social circles.

So Aiselin sat on a small bench in the garden of Baron Ravenclaw’s mansion, gently closing her eyes and listening to the sound of insects.

‘This is dangerous—this place is starting to feel like home…’

In any case, she must not forget her goal of working hard to earn money and save her family.

For the sake of Leigh and Diella, who were also working hard today for the reconstruction of the Duplain family, she had to stay focused.

Even so, it was also important to let go of everything and rest when one took a breather.

As Aiselin silently gazed at the mansion with a slightly lighter heart, she heard footsteps.

Step, step.

“…?”

It was quite late at night.

However, there was someone walking near the garden.

Since guards stood near the mansion, it was not particularly dangerous, but it was still not a good idea to wander around at that hour.

Looking more closely, she saw that the person was wearing noblewoman’s attire, so Aiselin focused her gaze.

As her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, she finally recognized who it was.

It was Lady Fina of the Baron Tigris family.

The clumsy girl, apparently suffering from muscle pain in her thighs and shoulders, was walking toward the main building of the mansion with a hunched posture and a deathly expression.

However, her steps were so quick that she disappeared into the main hallway before Aiselin could call out to her.

‘Why is she going to the main building instead of sleeping in the dormitory at this hour…?’

The only people awake at that hour would be the servants on night duty.

Most of the lights in the main building were off, leaving only darkness.

When she looked at the mansion’s windows, only a few rooms had their lights on.

One of them was Dereck’s office.

“…”

Aiselin looked toward the mansion with a complex, subtle expression.

*

“The section where most mages stagnate is the transition from three to four stars. In terms of proportion, that wall is much thicker than the one between four and five. It’s where those who rely solely on their lineage and take magic lightly tend to fall behind.”

Late at night, Fina, who had come to Dereck’s office, was sitting at the guest table, rubbing her knees.

Her whole body screamed in protest from the walking she had done during the day.

Fina, a six-star necromancer and master of corpse magic, had no means of resisting the fatigue that came with her immature body.

Even while complaining about the pain, she kept her promise and recited her knowledge of magic.

“This is an era where the authority of nobles comes from magic. That’s why most nobles, intoxicated by the power of their lineage since childhood, aspire to become masters of magic. But ironically, most end their lives satisfied with being three-star mages.”

“Most nobles I’ve met also seemed to have a limit at three stars.”

“Yes. The realm of four stars is a level that only those chosen once more among nobles—already chosen by birth—can reach. Even in great noble families, there are rarely more than five four-star mages. In most, there are two or three at most.”

That level, which even nobles of good blood could not easily reach, was not something a mere commoner could achieve.

That is why the realm from four stars upward was known as entirely noble territory.

It wasn’t that there were no commoners who had reached that rank, but all of them had left their names in history books. That’s how unrealistic it was for a commoner to surpass that threshold.

“For your reference, Melverot, the lord of the north, was nearly at four stars at your age. That guy’s a monster too.”

Dereck had only recently passed the age of his coming-of-age ceremony.

Normally, if one could use one-star magic by then, they were considered knowledgeable in magic, and if they could use two-star magic, they were considered a prodigy who appeared only once every few generations.

That showed how absurd Melverot’s level was. Dereck had spent a long time in social circles, yet he had never seen anyone reach four stars at that age—not even three stars.

The only one who could be considered close was Siern, but since she had been influenced by Noir’s blood from the start, she had to be excluded.

“I understand. If you’re thinking of wrapping a compression bandage, I can call a servant for you.”

“No, it’s fine. If I show my whining, sore self complaining about muscle pain in front of commoners, my authority will die.”

“…”

Fina rummaged through Dereck’s mercenary supplies, pulled out a suitable bandage to compress the sore area, and began wrapping it skillfully.

Then she lay back on the guest sofa and murmured an incantation, making an invoked creature in the form of a floating skull appear.

“…If you use necromancy inside the mansion, it’ll be a big problem. If anyone sees it, they won’t take it lightly.”

“Don’t underestimate me. I always keep my surroundings in mind. And I’m doing this because it’s necessary for the lesson, so don’t worry.”

After that bold declaration, Fina reclined on the sofa and placed the summoned skull on her thigh.

It seemed to be a type of cold magic, as a chilling aura emanated from the eerie skull.

Fina melted into the sofa as if she were going to sink into it and, with a groan, relaxed her body.

“Ugh… my thigh is killing me. You have no empathy. You have no idea how delicate and fragile the body of this innocent girl is—like a piece of glass. I wonder if those big, muscular men could ever understand what it’s like to live with such a fragile body for hundreds of years. Tsk.”

“What are you doing? Applying a cold compress?”

“Yes. Do you have a problem with that? This teacher is trying to heal her exhausted body, and the disciple only knows how to say no, no, and complain—ugh, this feels good…”

“…”

The scene of a girl who didn’t look older than fifteen exhaling in relief as if she were in a hot spring was so surreal it was hard to describe.

Dereck, sitting at his desk, rubbed his temples and spoke.

“There’s a hero named Rodelia in the territory of Viscount Renouel. She’s already noticed the presence of a six-star necromancer and is determined to find and kill her.”

“Oh. That nobody grew that much already? I know her well. I heard she turned Rodentz Island upside down while wielding the Holy Blood Sword, thanks to which most of the vagrants claiming to be my followers were wiped out. I’m truly grateful.”

“I met her in person, and she sensed necromancy from a distance it would take a horse several minutes to cover. So you’d better be careful using necromancy where nobles gather.”

“That’s quite amusing. As I always say, don’t worry. I’m far more advanced than you think.”

Fina let out an arrogant laugh and, surrendering her body to the cold air emanating from the summoned skeleton, looked at Dereck through narrowed eyes.

“Does this look like necromancy to you?”

“…Is it ordinary summoning magic?”

“Yes. Exactly. You’re quite perceptive.”

Fina groaned and twisted her body to change position. Apparently, moving too abruptly caused her muscle pain to flare up again.

“What do you think is needed to become a four-star mage? Unfortunately, diligently reading the theories of the Academy of Order, created by scholars like Adelbert, has its limits. Besides, you seem closer to the Wild Academy than to the Order one.”

“I have certainly heard that other qualities are required.”

“Let me explain the qualities necessary for a four-star mage in simple terms. If you truly want to reach that rank, you need exactly four things.”

Fina snapped her thin fingers, counting one by one.

“First, originality or creativity. Second, compatibility with magical tools. Third, understanding of the variability of reality. And fourth, a balanced comprehension of various magical fields.”

“…”

“You didn’t understand any of that, did you? This is a theory left behind by that bookworm named Adelbert. That’s why it’s explained in such a tangled and impressive way. That’s the problem with those bespectacled scholars who see magic only as an academic discipline.”

Fina gathered her lavender-tinted white hair and spread it across the sofa, then ran her fingers through the ends. Her hair, falling over the backrest, looked like a waterfall.

“Originality or creativity refers to the ability to contemplate magic beyond the already established rules. You, with your strong inclination toward the Wild Academy, have some of that, but you’re still lacking. You’ve accumulated quite a bit of practical experience, so if you let it mature for a while, it’ll naturally blossom.”

“Lately, I haven’t been able to go to the battlefield much.”

“Still, you must’ve accumulated some experience. If you keep reflecting on it, everything will become clear. It’s more of an internalization process than one of learning. In a way, it’s closest to innate talent.”

The ability to create one’s own unique magic usually comes more from within than from learning.

Melverot reinterpreted the two-star combat magic Fireball in his own way and turned it into the four-star combat magic Lava Ball.

It was a magic unique to Melverot, not recorded in any magic book.

The six-star combat magic Soul Incineration, which Kalimford tried to use to burn Fina’s soul, was also a creative reinterpretation of the four-star magic Incineration. Even if it was called six-star magic, it wasn’t established by Adelbert.

In this way, mages of four stars and above often created their own unique magic.

That was the difference of talent.

“Compatibility with magical tools seems more than sufficient. The staff you handle so effortlessly, Footprints, is actually a magical weapon of quite a high level—higher than you think.”

“It took me quite some time to master it, though.”

“And third, understanding the variability of reality. This is a bit complicated, but at the four-star level, it doesn’t require such a high degree of comprehension. Ugh—.”

Fina kept interrupting herself with “Ugh—” or “Ah, this feels good,” as she applied cold compresses.

It was hard to tell whether she had come to teach magic or to take a break away from prying eyes.

“What is that?”

“It’s the process of realizing that the world’s laws aren’t absolutely immutable, and that time, space, and magical principles can twist or bend.”

“The more I listen, the more confusing it sounds.”

“Don’t worry. As I said, at the four-star level it’s not required to that degree. This field involves level five or six magic—magic that deals with the laws of reality and existence, or that interferes with space-time. It’s the realm we necromancers use when approaching the laws of life and death. It’s far too advanced for a four-star mage to handle.”

Fina continued speaking while lying back again, this time applying a compress to her forearm. At this point, the summoned creature was pitiful, being used only as a portable ice pack.

“Recognizing the immutable laws that make up the world and understanding their principles. It’s good to have a foundation in philosophy or metaphysics. Those things are more the specialty of those bespectacled scholars glued to their desks than of practical mages like me.”

“I understand. In fact, I’ve felt that practical experience alone isn’t enough.”

“There’s no benefit in obsessing over word games at a desk. Just learn what’s necessary.”

Though Fina called herself a practical mage, considering the many books on necromancy she had written, she clearly didn’t neglect the academic field. It wouldn’t be wise to take her words literally.

“And the last thing, which is important, is a balanced understanding of the general magical field.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I mean the other fields of magic, excluding the forbidden ones I usually deal with.”

Combat, Illusion, Transformation, Summoning, and Detection.

The great mage Adelbert, who first organized the magical system, divided magic into those five major categories.

“I’ve already evaluated your magical aptitude. Your aptitude for combat and illusion magic is excellent, even from my perspective. Your detection magic is quite good, and your transformation magic is decent, but your summoning magic is rather poor.”

“It’s true that my accomplishments in summoning magic have been somewhat lacking.”

“Yes. Well, you don’t need to become a grand master of summoning, but you should at least bring it to the level of two stars.”

While it’s important to excel in one or two fields of magic, it’s also crucial to raise the overall level.

Dereck nodded and said,

“Then, did you summon that creature to make a demonstration?”

“Ugh—. Yes. And to soothe my muscles, startled thanks to you.”

“…”

“However, despite your blessed talent, your aptitude for summoning is still somewhat ambiguous. So it seems inefficient to start directly with biological summoning magic.”

Summoning magic is divided into two categories: biological and non-biological.

The biological system allows one to summon and control beasts, spirits, creatures, or monsters at will, while the non-biological system consists of auxiliary spells to summon equipment or alter the environment.

“For now, it’d be better if you focused on learning summoning magic. I can teach you some non-biological magic, or it wouldn’t be bad to find a biological summoning creature with which to form a contract. In any case, if I show you a demonstration, you’ll understand quickly since you learn fast.”

After saying that, Fina dismissed the floating skull-shaped summoned creature.

The skull, already eerie just to look at, clattered its teeth before fading into mana.

“Ohh, that was good, very good. I feel like the muscle pain has eased a little.”

“…”

“Anyway, I’ll summon it again, so watch the mana flow carefully. Now… huff…”

Dereck prepared to carefully observe Fina’s mana flow.

At that moment, Fina’s face paled, and her expression turned serious. Dereck flinched and asked in surprise.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“Listen without misunderstanding…”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been sitting in a twisted position for too long, and now I have a cramp in my leg… ugh…”

“…”

“Press hard on the third point below my thigh. Because of the muscle pain, I can’t lower my arm… ugh… huff…”

Dereck silently watched Fina, who was lying on the sofa, stretching her arm out with trembling fingers.

Watching her shake with her arm buried in her hair was like seeing a silkworm buried in its cocoon.

It was hard to describe that scene in words, so he simply said nothing.

Then, Dereck approached the sofa and pressed Fina’s foot firmly.

“Ugh– yes–. Huff… yes… very good…”

Dereck looked at Fina with a lukewarm expression, his eyes narrowing.

He recalled the images of the six-star mages he had met throughout his life.

The great noble Melverot, who ruled the Rochester territory in the north, and the old wandering mage Drest, who roamed the world speaking of the future.

They were grand figures who reached high levels thanks to their firm philosophies and deep contemplation, leaving their names in the history of magic.

Remembering those dignified mages, he suddenly lowered his gaze toward Fina, who was trembling on the sofa from a leg cramp.

“…”

Is this what a six-star mage is supposed to be?

He wasn’t crazy enough to say such rude words out loud.

“You. When you look at your teacher as if she were the sky, you should have a more respectful gaze…”

“Ah, yes…”

Apparently, everything had been reflected on his face.

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