There Are No Bad Young Ladies in the World

Pine (1)

Many remembered the image of the great demon Noir, who roared with the momentum to overturn the entire northern continent and burn the world to ashes.

The ‘Dawn War,’ one of the greatest disasters in the history of the empire, was still talked about among people, and those who commemorated the horrific devastation were spread across the continent.

The terrible disaster where blood flowed like rivers and corpses piled up like mountains.

The brave party that stopped the great disaster, which was called the crisis of humanity, was still referred to as legends.

Melverot, Peria, Reveltone, Lusric.

And the 6-star combat mage, Kalimford, who led them at the forefront.

The names of these five spread across the continent, becoming synonymous with the heroes of the previous generation.

However, those who were only drawn to the heroic tales did not know.

Hidden behind their heroic deeds was necromancy, which everyone considered a terrible sin.

– ‘Reina. I need your help.’

The time was during the height of the Dawn War, the place was a shabby warehouse of the Ankail Barony on the outskirts of the continent.

There, the great hero Kalimford, who was about to embark on his final expedition to capture Noir, was kneeling on one knee, making eye contact with a naive girl.

The hero, whose beard was rough and who was beginning to show signs of aging. Behind him stood his oldest friend Melverot, his lover Peria, and his reliable comrades Reveltone and Lusric.

The light coming in from the open warehouse door shone on them like a halo.

However, the warehouse filled with the smell of blood was only full of ominous darkness.

In this eerie place, filled with traces of necromancy, the great hero was making a request with a firm expression.

– ‘To reach where Noir is, we need someone who can break his necromancy.’

The person Kalimford was asking was a girl who was just past puberty.

In the corner of the warehouse filled with the smell of blood, she sat hugging her knees, looking up at the hero Kalimford with gleaming eyes.

This girl’s name was Reina. ─For now.

Once, her name was Aileen, before that, Seraphine.

Before that, she was Isabel, before that, Laies, before that, Poyna, and before that, Katlan, Amelia, Coilen, Magat, Victoria, Frederica, Aines, Cirque, Rushiel, Leti….

──And later, she would bear the name Pine.

The girl quietly stared at the hero, then eventually raised the corners of her mouth in a sly smile.

– ‘Hehehe, hahaha.’

– ‘…’

– ‘The situation is quite amusing. The last remaining hero of these imperial citizens, who tried so hard to capture and kill me, is now reaching out to me for help. How ironic.’

A girl who seemed to be in her early to mid-teens suddenly spoke in an archaic Central Continent dialect.

It wasn’t too difficult to understand, but the fact that such an old-fashioned speech came from a young girl evoked an inexplicable sense of foreboding in those who heard it.

This girl was inherently an ominous being.

– “I’m sorry, but I can’t find any reason to help you, Kalimford. If anything, I would hinder you, not help you. Why should I help you?”

– “…”

– “They say the magic level of the Great Demon Beast Noir of the North is astonishing. If it’s that Great Demon Beast, it might help me fulfill my wish. So, it would be better for me to kill you here with my own power, Kalimford.”

At those words, Kalimford’s companions, who were standing behind him, flinched and reached for their weapons.

However, Kalimford raised one hand to stop them. Still crouched, he quietly looked at Reina and spoke.

– “Reina. The Great Demon Beast Noir cannot fulfill your wish.”

– “Well. That’s something we don’t know yet.”

– “Do you regret studying necromancy?”

At those words, Reina’s eyes trembled slightly.

As she remained silent and stared at him, the hero eventually spoke in a quiet, lowered voice.

– “The mark of reincarnation is a blessing that guarantees transcendence from death, something all beings long for. But it seems you have started to realize it too.”

– “Shut up, Kalimford.”

– “It’s not a blessing, it’s a curse.”

Reina gritted her teeth, casting a longer shadow over her hollowing eyes.

The repetition of reincarnation. Even if you die and die again, you are reborn as a noble lady and continue your life. That magic grants the gift of eternal life, something everyone desires.

When you lose your youthful appearance, whether at twenty or thirty, you die for some reason and continue your life again, maintaining your youthful appearance. It was truly eternal youth.

However, as you progress through the endless cycle of reincarnation, you eventually realize.

Once you touch necromancy, you can’t help but live with blood on your hands.

As you wander through such a shadowy life countless times, you gradually forget who you are.

Who am I? Am I Reina? No, that’s just who I am now.

Then am I Isabel? Or Lyes? Poina? Katlan? Amelia? Coilen? Magat? Victoria? Frederica?

As you repeatedly trace back to the origin of origins, you eventually forget who you are and can’t give any meaning to the journey of life. The original self, what it was, and what it lived for, all become meaningless, buried in the distant past.

As you sink into such meaninglessness and emptiness, you become a wandering ghost, unable to find the meaning of life.

The period that comes to everyone equally is not allowed for you alone.

Reaching the pinnacle of necromancy means that.

The mark of reincarnation engraved on the soul does not disappear once it is engraved.

For the first 200 years or so, you might consider it a blessing.

However, in the end, she wanders the world like a ghost, only wanting rest. No matter how exhausted she becomes, the world never allowed her to rest.

What she desires is only one thing. Rest.

Enveloped in the curse of necromantic magic, living only in the bloody shadows. What she longed for, no matter how many times she said it, was only one thing, rest.

– “I can kill you. Not just your body, but your soul as well.”

And then, facing that wandering spirit, the legendary hero and 6-star combat mage Kalimford speaks.

His body is aging, but his brilliant eyes still sparkle.

6-star combat magic ‘Soul Incineration’

Kalimford, who reached the 6-star level while gazing at the constellations alone in the Rotan Mountains, had reached the level of burning even existence itself to nothingness── it is said that with a couple of months of preparation, he could erase even a 6-star necromancer from this world.

It was his own realm, completely different from 6-star mages like Melverot, Kohella, and Drest, and paradoxically, it seemed like a lifeline of salvation.

The legendary combat mage Kalimford can kill himself.

─That simple fact made the girl lift her head.

And the following year, Kalimford’s party succeeded in subjugating the great demon Noir that had engulfed the north.

However, Kalimford could not keep his promise.

Because he died along with Noir.

– Swoosh

On a drizzly day.

At the main gate of the Gremfort Palace where Emperor Guttel resides.

A large portrait of the legendary hero who died with Noir is prominently displayed.

During the funeral, countless citizens of the empire were shedding tears in front of that portrait.

His long-time friend, the cold-blooded Melverot, also bowed his head, and all the legendary hero’s companions were also silently mourning with gloomy expressions.

At the back of the crowd. A girl, who was looking up at the hero’s portrait with her hood pulled up, finally turned around and gritted her teeth.

“This… damn b*stard…”

As she slipped through the crowd and blended into the streets of the capital, there was still a chilling aura about her.

Kalimford did not keep his promise.

Thus, a chill settled in the girl’s eyes.

*

In fact, no matter how renowned a teacher Derek was, and no matter how thorough Aiselyn was, the first training center they opened was bound to have problems.

Aiselyn had prepared by considering countless unexpected situations in her head, but even so, she thought that once the training center started operating, it would encounter all sorts of problems.

And she was fully prepared to deal with the various problems that would arise.

However, the Ravenclaw Training Center was running too smoothly.

“`

“……”

It has been ten days since the training center started operating in earnest.

Aiselin was sitting in her private room within the mansion that Derek had prepared for her, quietly staring at the class materials.

She had already reviewed them several times, so there was no point in looking at them any further.

The court etiquette she had struggled with when she first debuted in society, the basic manners needed for conversations at banquets, and the basic education of a lady were all organized in an easy-to-understand format.

There was nothing to worry about regarding the etiquette classes Aiselin was in charge of, and the same went for the magic classes Derek was responsible for.

The noble ladies who came to the training center were growing exponentially, exclaiming that this was truly a land of learning, even though it had only been a short time since the classes started.

The ladies receiving the training seemed to be very satisfied, and although there were some creaky parts, the newly hired servants were not causing any major problems.

The instructors brought in from outside were all very individualistic, but they seemed to be doing their best in their respective roles, and there didn’t seem to be any major conflicts within the mansion.

Everything was going smoothly.

There were no problems.

In other words, there was nothing to do.

“….”

“Miss Aiselin… do you have any concerns?”

When the head butler Delbritton approached and asked, Aiselin replied with a sullen expression.

“I’m worried because I have no worries…”

“…”

Delbritton had already come to know Aiselin quite well while preparing for this training center.

At first, he thought that only Derek, the owner of this Ravenclaw mansion, was a bit peculiar, but as he quietly observed, he realized that Aiselin was no less unusual.

Those who are obsessed with something tend to succeed earlier than others.

In any case, it meant they were not in their right mind.

“Come to think of it, does Mr. Derek have any difficulties? I see him at meals, but we don’t talk much because he’s so busy…”

“The baron is handling his schedule well without any major issues. Rather, he seems to be worried about you, Miss Aiselin.”

“Re-really…?”

Aiselin swallowed and listened intently to Delbritton’s words.

Recently, it felt like she only had work-related conversations with Derek, but even in the midst of that, she seemed to feel a subtle joy in the fact that he was concerned about her well-being.

When Ellente visited a while ago, she was almost terrified, but it was all in the past now.

No matter how talented Ellente was, she couldn’t surpass Aiselin, who was meeting face-to-face with Derek at the Ravenclaw training center every day.

Moreover, the fact that the stoic Baron Ravenclaw was personally concerned about her health gave her a strange sense of fulfillment.

Although Aiselin knew well that it was just a formal remark, she couldn’t help but feel a peculiar sense of superiority from it.

“`

Originally, it was said that the one who falls in love first loses.

Aiseline cleared her throat a few times and then looked out the window, where the scenery was beginning to show signs of autumn.

Yes, it was already autumn.

Time felt like it was flying by like an arrow.

“…”

Suddenly, Aiseline felt a cold sweat running down her back.

“When was the last time I went back to my family home…?”

It was a thought that came to her mind only after most of her tasks were completed and her daily life had settled into a routine.

No matter what anyone said, Aiseline was the fallen noblewoman bearing the fate of the crumbling Duplain family.

“Are you talking about the salary? Come to think of it, we did agree to split it.”

“Talking about money like this feels a bit awkward… but we have to settle accounts anyway.”

The next day’s breakfast.

Derek, sitting at the rather grand dining table, was eating simple vegetables, bread, and fruits.

Aiseline approached Derek, intending to discuss the distribution of profits in earnest.

As for Derek, he was reviewing the schedule for basic magic training that would take place today, as well as planning supplementary lessons for a few young ladies whose recent progress had been sluggish.

Despite everything, once he took on a task, he worked diligently, a trait that had not changed since his mercenary days.

One of the reasons Aiseline liked Derek was precisely because of his diligence.

“The tuition fees for this quarter have been settled. I will give you half, Miss Aiseline. I will take the other half.”

“…What? You’re giving me half? That, that’s a bit…”

“Is it too little? If you want to negotiate, I won’t refuse. However, let’s go to the office and discuss it properly with a notary.”

“No, it’s the opposite. You’re giving me too much.”

Aiseline spoke hesitantly.

In fact, Aiseline was usually quite assertive about such matters, but for some reason, her voice always seemed to get smaller in front of Derek.

Derek looked at Aiseline quietly, then put down his fork and pushed the remaining food aside.

At that moment, the servants quickly came out and cleared away the leftover food.

“Miss Aiseline… I do have a conscience…”

“Yes…?”

Derek spoke while pressing his temples.

This Ravenclaw Training Center was established in Derek’s name, built on Derek’s land, and Derek was seated in the director’s position.

However, Derek was just teaching some magic and wasn’t really doing anything as a person in charge.

Rather, Iselin was sitting in the dean’s seat, handling all the administrative work alone. From the beginning, Iselin had laid the foundation of the training center, and she was solving all the scattered problems.

Now, the training center had just opened, so there were many unstable parts, but frankly, it seemed that even if Derek left the territory for a while in the future, Iselin would manage it well on her own.

At that point, it was a bit strange for Derek to monopolize all the income from the training center.

“And… don’t you need money? You have to rebuild the family.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“The Duplain family will need a lot of available assets right away. If the training center runs well, the cash flow going to the Duplain family will also increase, so in a way, contributing hard to the training center is saving the Duplain family, isn’t it?”

Derek’s words were correct.

The amount of gold coins brought by more than thirty noble ladies was enough to be considered a fortune.

If half of that could be taken to the Duplain family, it would be enough to put out all the urgent fires for now.

It was a good thing and a grateful thing, but Iselin never thought Derek would yield like this.

Territorial nobles were often stingy with such distributions, so there were almost no people like Derek who would willingly throw such a large sum.

Iselin’s eyes began to sparkle.

She stared quietly at Derek, who was shaking off his clothes at the head of the long, large dining table, and then spoke with a bright face.

“Derek…”

“Yes?”

“I… will bury my bones here…”

“You don’t have to go that far.”

In fact, even Derek had recently started to find Iselin a bit scary.

After the Duplain family declined and she acknowledged that she was a fallen noble lady… she seemed to have awakened in many ways.

Derek also lived fiercely, dividing his day into minutes, but even he found it hard to compete with Iselin.

“By the way, once the first quarter of classes is over this fall, I plan to conduct some supplementary classes with a few noble ladies.”

“Oh, yes. There were a few who were somewhat lacking in achievement. According to our training center’s policy, we never leave behind those who fall behind.”

“Lady Sidmer, Lady Rosfeld, and Lady of the Tigris family… I think I will conduct separate classes for them.”

“Really?”

Iselin knew that Lady Sidmer and Lady Rosfeld were somewhat timid and lacked confidence, which delayed their achievements.

However, she did not think that Lady Fine of the Tigris barony would also be a target for supplementary classes.

‘…Recently, Derek has been paying a lot of attention to Lady Fine of the Tigris family.’

It was also out of a sense of responsibility, but Iselin felt something subtle.

She herself was too busy cleaning up the messes she had made, so she hardly had any private conversations with Derek.

Derek seemed to be particularly concerned about Lady Fine of the Tigris family.

Even after all the classes were over, he would stay behind to give countless pieces of advice, or even go to the dormitory to give life lessons… Sometimes, they would even go hiking together on holidays, spending a lot of time together. (Of course, from Fine’s perspective, these were painful trials.)

As if that wasn’t enough, he was even planning to give special supplementary lessons separately. (Of course, from Fine’s perspective, it would be a pain comparable to death.)

In short, Derek was almost neglecting Aislin.

“…”

How truly heartless.

Such a thought briefly crossed her mind, but Aislin quickly widened her eyes and came to her senses.

Heartless? What did Derek do wrong to be called heartless? Derek was just doing his job.

Aislin was momentarily dumbfounded by her own thoughts and shook her head in bewilderment.

Derek, seeing Aislin like that, just looked at her with a strange expression, wondering if she was uncomfortable. Considering Aislin’s workload, it wouldn’t be surprising if she was overworked.

Receiving such sincere concern, Aislin quickly blushed and shook her head vigorously.

“I-I was just spacing out for a moment. I’m sorry. I’ll go review the morning schedule now.”

“You always work so hard.”

“Not as much as you, Mr. Derek. Anyway, thank you so much for the income distribution. I will do my best to represent the Duplain family.”

With that, Aislin tightly grabbed the documents and hurriedly walked towards the hallway.

Fanning her reddening face with her hand, she was lost in bewilderment.

Aislin, who was quite clueless about such matters, couldn’t realize it.

It was the same with Elente and Fine.

For the first time in her life, Aislin was awakening to the emotion of jealousy.

‘…Before this fall ends, I’ll expel Fine. If I handle the justification well, Fine herself probably won’t have much to complain about.’

After Aislin left the dining hall, Derek once again reviewed the supplementary lesson schedules he had organized.

Fine was enduring Derek’s subtle checks better than he had expected.

Derek was acting like a textbook authoritarian, but her social skills, honed over many years, were far more excellent than Derek had anticipated.

‘…To think she would endure this well.’

A necromancer is like a virus.

If left alone, they will surely consume the group and cause disaster. The Duplain family’s tragedy was more than enough proof that if not culled in time, great calamities would ensue.

This level of action was still not enough. It was time to take some drastic measures.

Derek was ready to make his move.

“After this term ends, I plan to conduct additional supplementary lessons. Lady Tigris still has some areas where she lacks achievement, so let’s have more classes together. During the lessons, I will teach you wise ways to deal with life’s adversities, how to respect your elders, and the truths and subtleties of life.”

Late that afternoon, after finishing his classes, Derek called Fine and said.

“…Oh my! Th-thank you…! I’m sorry and grateful that you’re taking the time for me…!”

Pine endured the hardening of her expression with near-superhuman patience. Seeing her somehow manage to keep a cheerful face, even Derek couldn’t help but be impressed.

She was certainly not an easy person. She was as tough as Derek.

And when two tough people meet, the situation tends to escalate to the extreme.