Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 58: Drop of Blood (4)

“You could get hurt, so stay near the bed.”

“Wait, wait… Dereck. Are you really going to break the window all of a sudden? If you damage the Duplain mansion’s property so easily…”

Seeing Dereck acting so abruptly, Denise stood up, and when she saw his expression, she trembled slightly. Dereck’s face was terribly serious.

Crises often came without warning. And Dereck knew that better than anyone. That’s why, whenever he had doubts, he acted without hesitation.

Better to err on the side of caution than fall short. He had never regretted following that principle.

Crash!

“Ahhh!”

The chair Dereck threw flew out the window and rolled until it stopped in the garden.

Fortunately, no one was nearby in the garden, shrouded in the darkness of night.

After brushing aside the shards of glass with his boot, Dereck leaned out to inspect the surroundings.

Even after breaking both windows, the frame was still narrow for an adult to pass through. However, since Denise was small in build, it looked like she could be pushed through.

“D-Dereck. Why did you do this?”

“Focus your magical senses on the hallway. It’s filled with a strange magical energy.”

Denise, knowledgeable in magical detection, immediately concentrated after hearing his words.

She used the first-level spell Magic Detection, and within seconds, her expression turned grim.

What flowed through the corridor wasn’t the bluish magic she was used to. The reddish, viscous energy emanating from that magic was abnormal from the start.

It was the first time Denise had sensed something like that, but Dereck had already encountered that type of magic before.

‘Looks like forbidden magic. It’s the first time I’ve run into something like this since arriving in this world.’

Besides the five recognized branches of magic—combat, transformation, confusion, summoning, and detection—there existed continent-wide forbidden spells.

Their mechanics were completely different, and their growth process too. That magic fed on human blood, devoured souls, or consumed corpses… far removed from any ethical principle.

There’s always a reason taboos are considered taboos.

“Excuse me.”

“Kyaa!”

Dereck lifted Denise in one swift motion.

She blushed from the sudden contact, but Dereck, without hesitation, jumped with her into the dark garden, stepping fearlessly on the shattered glass.

Whoosh!

Jumping from the third floor was almost like plunging into a void.

But Dereck deployed a second-star transformation spell: Earth Wall. A solid wall of magically reinforced earth rose beside the mansion’s exterior.

Using it as support, he descended in a zigzag and landed safely, setting Denise down.

“D-Dereck…!”

Still recovering from the fright, Denise looked back at the mansion.

“…The mansion looks strange.”

Dereck turned his gaze toward it as well.

Lady Diella had just debuted in society, and prominent figures from across the continent were present to celebrate.

And yet, that place brimmed with an eerie silence.

Dark red magical energy leaked from every crack and between the walls of the mansion, as if it were bleeding. Even someone without magical sensitivity would have sensed something was wrong.

“W-What is that…? Why hasn’t anyone reacted?”

“There are several three-star mages among the guests… even two four-stars. It’s strange that none of them have noticed something this obvious…”

Dereck had memorized the names of the high-level mages invited, even if not all the nobles.

Anyone at that level should have been able to detect that abnormal magic. And yet, inside the mansion, everything remained quiet. Something was seriously wrong.

“We need to find out what’s going on inside. If something happens in a mansion full of key figures from all over the continent… it could be catastrophic…”

“I think something already has happened.”

“…What?”

“That dark red energy… it might be necromancy. Or a plague.”

Denise turned pale.

Necromancy was the most infamous taboo. To progress, many necromancers consumed corpses or murdered other mages to absorb their power.

Almost every great necromancer in history was a mass murderer.

‘First, ensure safety.’

Dereck quickly analyzed the situation. Staying near the mansion was not an option.

Ensuring Denise’s safety was the priority.

“There’s no point investigating what’s going on inside. Let’s head out the front gate. We’ll assess the situation from there.”

The most reasonable plan was to cross the central garden and head straight for the entrance.

If it was locked, they’d break it down. Worrying about property damage during a crisis was absurd.

“Yes, I understand! Dereck! I’ll… follow you.”

Denise didn’t object.

In a situation like that, Dereck was the best person to lead. Trusting him was the right choice.

Both began running through the garden.

Denise clutched her dress tightly, biting her lip to keep pace, while Dereck moved forward with constant vigilance.

Tap, tap, tap.

In the silence of the garden, the only sound was that of their footsteps.

Though the run was long, Denise managed to endure thanks to the physical training she’d done with Dereck.

They passed the tea tables, crossed the rose-covered gazebo, and it was there that they saw it.

A man stood guarding the path to the main gate. Both stopped.

While Dereck took a defensive stance and assessed the man in the darkness, Denise tried to catch her breath.

“Who’s there?”

“Dereck, is that you?! It’s Delron! Butler Delron!”

A familiar face.

Delron, the Duplain family’s butler, was one of the longest-serving members of the household.

His eyes remained sharp, his posture straight, his uniform bloodstained.

There were multiple bloodstains on his suit, and he was gasping as he clutched a wound.

“B-Butler! You’re the butler of the Duplain family!”

“L-Lady of House Beltus… you’re safe too. What a relief… The mansion is in chaos. Strange monsters came out from the pavilion basement… they’re killing servants indiscriminately…”

Blood dripped from the wound Delron was trying to contain.

“We must inform the main house… Lady Denise, please evacuate… I must go and alert Lord Duplain…”

“Monsters… from the pavilion? How… how can that happen in an inhabited mansion?”

“I-I’m not sure either. I heard monsters usually appear in labyrinths… maybe something like that emerged in the pavilion’s basement. We can figure out the cause later. Right now, we must evacuate the guests from the main building!”

“Y-Yes…! The main building is full of representatives from influential noble houses. If any of them are harmed, it would be a disaster!”

Denise took a deep breath as she assessed Delron’s condition.

One of the butler’s arms was already ruined, and he couldn’t move it properly.

“B-Bulter…! We must treat your wound first…!”

“I’m fine! There’s no time! Dereck, please. You must inform the people in the main building about the monsters’ appearance! Please… please…”

Delron staggered, speaking between gasps.

“B-but we have to help you first! You’re losing too much blood! At the very least, we need to support you—”

Just as Denise tried to steady him, Dereck grabbed her by the nape and threw her back.

Slash!

“Ahhh!”

Denise screamed as she fell, stumbling over the hem of her dress.

Before she could understand what was happening, claws slashed through the air exactly where she had been a second earlier.

Swish!

Claws. The word felt out of place.

Dereck swallowed hard. As soon as Denise got close, Delron’s seemingly mangled arm had moved in a direct strike toward her. But it wasn’t his original arm.

Crack, crack!

A new arm sprouted from Delron’s left shoulder.

It was too grotesque to be called human. It was in a state of decay, with abnormally long nails jutting out. Upon seeing the horrific sight, Denise’s eyes filled with terror.

Dereck’s brow furrowed.

The intelligence he had seen in Delron’s eyes moments before had vanished. A monstrous stench wafted from various parts of his body.

His skin was covered with grotesquely bulging veins, and its color had turned a stony, grayish hue.

Delron, coughing up blood, let out a coarse growl as he attacked Dereck.

Without losing his composure, Dereck kicked him hard in the stomach, twisted the deformed arm, and flung him into the garden.

Crash! Bang!

Delron’s neck twisted violently to one side upon impact, but he stood up unscathed, planting both hands on the ground.

His swaying, expressionless figure no longer resembled anything living.

“W-What… what is that…?”

“Get up, Lady Denise.”

“What… what is this…? Ahhh!”

Splash, splash!

From the other side of the garden, several humanoid figures suddenly emerged.

It was as if the dead buried beneath the earth were rising one by one. The stench of rot froze the blood upon contact.

Right beside Denise, an arm burst from the ground and grabbed her wrist.

Startled, she tried to pull free, but the grip was far stronger than that of any normal person.

In just a few more seconds, the fragile bones of her arm might have snapped.

At that moment, as the pressure intensified—

Slash!

Dereck drew a dagger from his thigh and slashed the arm in one swift motion. Rotting blood splattered.

The decomposed flesh clung to Denise’s arm as the blackened liquid ran down her skin.

Just seeing it was enough to make Denise feel she would faint.

“Ahhh! Huff, huff…”

“Lady Denise. Please get up. The situation is critical.”

“M-My legs… I can’t… Huff… ahh… ahh…”

Her thighs were trembling violently.

Even she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her face was stained with blood, she was hyperventilating, paralyzed.

Dereck crouched in front of her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked her firmly in the eyes.

“Calm yourself, Lady Denise.”

“D-Dereck… Huff… huff…”

Dereck, who had traversed countless flesh-ridden labyrinths, adjusted to the situation immediately.

But for a noble young lady who had never witnessed anything like this, being suddenly confronted with such horror was a tremendous shock.

That’s why Dereck’s first act was to synchronize his breathing with hers while holding her gaze.

Just as fear can be contagious, so can calm.

In the midst of that hell, where the dead rose slowly, Dereck didn’t lose his composure. He soothed Denise’s frightened heart first.

His presence was reassuring. And little by little, Denise’s lost sense of reason began to return.

“Huff… Dereck… I’m sorry… I… this… I can’t…”

“It’s normal. Can you stand?”

“Yes… First… we need to escape through the main entrance…”

Dereck looked toward the main gate.

The number of corpses was steadily increasing, gradually surrounding the mansion. It was as if they were trying to trap all the guests inside.

Even if they managed to break through and cross the gate, they would find nothing but open ground.

Fighting in such a field against so many corpses would quickly drain their stamina.

‘Escaping by carriage would be ideal, but the coachman probably isn’t at his post.’

Dereck reassessed the situation within seconds.

“Let’s go back to the mansion. Outside is more dangerous. We don’t know how many there are, and your stamina will run out before you can keep your distance.”

“R-Really?”

“There are guests inside. Among them, several 3-star magi and at least a couple of 4-stars. It’ll be better to find them and regroup.”

The fact that the main building remained silent was worrisome, but venturing into the open without intel was worse.

Dereck helped Denise up, and the two began running back toward the mansion.

Behind them, numerous corpses started to stumble after them, led by the deformed Delron.

“Huff, huff…”

Denise, who had just caught her breath, was gradually regaining her composure.

She was a smart girl. But still a young one.

Faced with the sight of corpses tearing through flesh and arms bursting from torn backs, her mind had shut down in panic.

But now, though trembling, her rational mind was beginning to resurface.

“The mansion’s west wing is for guest quarters, right? When we passed by earlier, there was no response. They must have escaped, or…”

“…Or what?”

“Or they were neutralized. I don’t know what’s going on… but if I were the one who planned this, my top priority would be to eliminate the high-level magi first.”

It was a logical deduction.

If someone wanted to unleash this kind of anomaly within the Duplain mansion, they’d have had to prepare a way to suppress the most powerful mages.

“This kind of energy should be detectable by 3-star magi, right? You sensed it first, Dereck.”

“Yes. There are several at that level among the guests, besides me.”

“Then they must’ve used some kind of trap to subdue them.”

“…But I’m fine.”

“Dereck’s rank isn’t widely known. It’s not easy to predict that a mercenary with your background could be a 3-star mage or higher.”

Dereck himself was an anomaly.

The world was vast and full of mages, but predicting someone of his age could wield detection magic of that level wasn’t easy.

In fact, those who knew Dereck’s true rank could be counted on one hand.

“In the worst-case scenario, you might be the only 3-star or higher mage who can still act properly right now, Dereck.”

“…”

“Then you should move and check on the other magi.”

“It won’t be a big problem. Anyway, while securing the guests’ safety, let’s gather everyone who can help and secure the mansion first.”

As Dereck calmly laid out the plan, Denise took a deep breath.

That’s when her trembling fingers finally stilled. Gritting her teeth, Denise followed Dereck’s lead toward the mansion.

“I’ve been fooling myself.”

“In a situation like this, anyone would tremble. I’ve seen worse in labyrinths, so I adapted quickly.”

“Yes, you’re reliable. But the other noble ladies in the mansion must be terrified. If anything goes wrong, the damage could escalate drastically.”

“…”

Denise was right.

As Dereck ran toward the mansion, he recalled the list of today’s guests.

Except for a few high-level magi, most lacked battlefield or combat experience. Especially the noble ladies, who were likely frozen in fear, unable to act in such a crisis.

Flesh flying, blood splashing, and grotesque monsters roaming the mansion grounds.

Freezing in terror under those conditions was only natural.

*

Slash!

The corpse of a servant that entered the room was struck by a magic arrow. Its rotting arm was torn apart, and dark red blood splattered throughout the room.

Splash!

“Ahhh!”

With a loud crash, the tea table flipped over, and a low-ranking noble lady who had been seated there screamed.

Thud!

The fallen corpse dropped to its knees and collapsed. Soon, it rolled across the floor, and its severed head tumbled toward the woman, staring at her blankly.

“Eeeeeek!”

The woman, whose name was unknown, wet herself in fear. Ellen pretended not to notice. In a situation like this, almost no one could keep their composure.

The corpse had burst into Ellen’s room shortly after Dereck had left the mansion.

From outside the door, a magical aura seemed to seep through, and a servant entered carrying a tea tray.

However, the servant, wearing a spotless butler’s uniform, began twisting his body unnaturally, and soon, spewing blood, lunged at Ellen.

Ellen had been chatting with a low-ranking noble lady who was her friend over tea.

Though surprised by the sudden attack, Ellen calmly drew a magic arrow and destroyed the lunging corpse.

The low-ranking noble, now in tears, looked at Ellen—covered in dark red blood—as she calmly dusted off her dress without blinking.

“What on earth is going on…?”

Rumors about the brilliant star of House Belmierd were well-known, but staying composed even in a situation like this was strange.

However, for Ellen herself, it wasn’t that unusual.

During her intense training period, a mercenary-turned-magic-instructor had taken her through all kinds of labyrinths no less terrifying than hell.

There, she had seen humanoid monsters whose body parts were severed in various ways, torn limb from limb, even human bodies split in half.

The time when she would tremble at the sight of corpse-like monsters spilling some blood was long gone.

‘…Truly terrified, huh? Looks like you won’t be much help…’

Ellen sighed when she saw the noblewoman trembling like a leaf. Then she glanced at the eerie corridor. Only silence filled the air.

‘Should I check on the condition of the others in the rooms…? Or should I stay put…? I’m not sure how to decide what to do…’

As Ellen slowly observed her surroundings, the noble lady lying on the floor was stunned. Indeed, staying calm in a situation like this didn’t seem normal. But for Ellen, it wasn’t so strange.

Ellen occasionally closed her eyes and imagined the labyrinth she had traversed with Dereck. It was a horrifying sight that would haunt her dreams whenever she was about to forget it.

Compared to that, a few corpse-like monsters lying dead were child’s play. In a way, Ellen wasn’t normal either.

Unfortunately, this was also due to Dereck’s influence.

‘Anyway, understanding the situation before it gets worse is the priority…’

Murmuring to herself, Ellen’s breath caught as she looked down the hallway again. The west corridor of the Duplain mansion. A space filled with waiting rooms for many other distinguished guests.

There… the strange servants, for no apparent reason, were dragging all sorts of guests out of their rooms. Most looked like limp corpses.

When she saw the faces of the guests being dragged across the floor, there were more than a few names recognized throughout the continent.

The scene looked as if they were preparing a sacrifice for some ritual.

‘No matter how you look at it… this… is a major incident…’

Ellen knew instinctively. If all of them were really corpses, this event would go down in history as a catastrophe spoken of across the continent for years.

She was now right in the middle of that scene.

Ellen swallowed hard and thought.

‘Where is Dereck…? Dereck must be somewhere in the mansion too…’

Right now, who could she rely on?

Curiously, the first thought that came to her mind was that of the seasoned mercenary.

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