The lined-up vassals were disturbed. The fact that the young lady was suffering from an illness was a confidential matter. After all, she appeared active and full of vitality on the outside.
"...It seems those spell-caster fellows we called to treat the illness have been spreading secrets around the neighborhood."
However, the suspicious lord snorted dismissively. He judged that the previously invited magicians had exposed the young lady's confidential information.
"Can't trust the oaths of spell-casters anyway."
"I have no association with other magicians."
"Ha! Then how did a mere wanderer know about my daughter's illness? Even the royal family and empire couldn't figure out the nature of the illness."
In truth, Tellorian was curious too. How he could see through the past, present, and future. Such omniscience should rightfully be called a divine power.
"Count Herington. I am a magician."
"Right. And I am a count."
"I understand your distrust since I'm an unknown magician. However, I've been trained to distinguish between what can and cannot be resolved, and the illness troubling the young lady is something I can solve."
The distrust filling the lord's expression softened somewhat. The straightforward persuasion had worked.
"So what is your solution?"
"The young lady's illness is inappropriate to discuss in public. I will explain in a place suitable for keeping secrets."
Only then did the lord's expression relax. At least this invited magician had a clear understanding of the nature of his daughter's illness and the negative impact such an illness could have on the Herington County.
"At least you're not a quack."
"What did you do with the previous quacks?"
"Ripped out their tongues, beat them up, and drove them out."
"I will accept the same punishment if I fail to resolve the young lady's illness. Please entrust this to me."
A smile spread across the count's face.
This time, he might have found the real deal.
"What reward do you want if you succeed?"
"Appoint me as the court magician."
"That's only natural, so it's not a reward."
"Follow my instructions."
"...Whatever you say?"
The count's brow furrowed. He hadn't followed his father's teachings nor obeyed the king's orders. Yet a magician of unknown origin?
"That's the condition for treating the young lady's illness."
"...What if I break my promise after making it?"
"I will kill you, my lord."
"Ha!"
The count let out a hollow laugh and the audience hall froze. The Iron Mace Count was never one to tolerate threats. When his father mentioned revoking his successor rights, he staged a coup, and when the king mentioned confiscating his territory, he started a rebellion.
"Very well!"
Yet he agreed. The rough man who had defied both his father and lord fully accepted the threat from a wandering magician.
"If you really cure my daughter's illness, I'll give you anything except three things."
The count held up three fingers.
"First. Can't give you my wife."
"Of course."
"Second. Can't give you my daughter."
"Understood."
"Third. Can't give you my posterior."
"..."
Despite living in this land for 20 years, it was still hard to keep up with medieval sensibilities. Perhaps it was an inherent limitation of being from the modern world.
"Besides these, I'll do whatever you say. If you tell me to kill someone, I'll kill. If you tell me to serve demons, I'll serve. Is this satisfactory?"
The Iron Mace Count seems to have mistaken me for a sinister spell-caster. Like a shadow master plotting to turn the world upside down using forbidden knowledge and secrets.
"It's satisfactory."
"I'll gladly follow whatever scheme you drag our family into. If you can really cure my daughter..."
...Come to think of it, I am actually aspiring to be a shadow master. It's true that I possess forbidden knowledge not permitted to humans...
'Indeed, lords have good instincts.'
They have much experience in dealing with people.
==
Knock knock.
An elderly maid knocks on the firmly closed door.
"My lady. A new healer has arrived."
"...Who is it this time?"
When the girl's neurotic voice was heard, the elderly maid trembled. She looked terribly frightened.
"...W-well."
"Go back."
"Y-yes...!"
After the elderly maid hurriedly left clutching her skirts, Tellorian opened the door without permission. It was rude behavior, and considering the magician was male, highly inappropriate.
Bang!
"..."
A doll-like beautiful girl appeared. Though her half-naked form in only a corset was exposed, she merely frowned. Tellorian too was looking around her room rather than at her.
"Hmm."
The room's interior was filled with things a young lady might possess. A shoe display case and a luxury wardrobe filled with contents, books suggesting cultivation.
The rapier hanging on the wall and hunting tools were unlike the norm for ladies, but considering this was the frontier, it wasn't surprising.
"Quite a disguise, Belladia."
"A wandering magician dares to speak my name without permission? If I ring the bell, knights will rush in to gouge out your eyes and tongue."
Lady Belladia placed her right hand on the alarm orb on the desk. A red light flickered in her eyes. Clear killing intent.
"Put on your clothes and sit down. I have instructions to give."
"You don't seem to understand the chance I gave you."
The young lady smiled pleasantly. It was the look of a hunter gazing at prey caught in a trap.
"I'll skin your pretty face—"
"Do you want the true culprit who killed the countess to be revealed?"
"...!!"
The smile disappeared from the young lady's face and was replaced with shock. The murder of her mother was clearly a perfect crime. One even her father didn't know about.
"If you sound the alarm and I'm taken to the torture chamber, I will reveal the location of the murder weapons you've hidden in the quarry. Is that what you really want?"
Belladia trembled at the magician's threat. The opponent had accurately named the hiding place of the murder weapons. Something even prominent clergy of the Sun God Order couldn't find...
"Sit down."
"..."
Belladia looked at the rapier hanging in the closet while her left hand fondled the dagger hidden in her corset. The opponent was a slender magician. She could end his life in one breath.
"Want to try?"
"..."
"Go ahead if you want. But you'll have to deal with the consequences."
The magician's blue eyes gazed down at her steadily. It was extremely uncomfortable. It felt like he was seeing through all her innermost thoughts.
"...What are you?"
"Use honorifics."
"...What are you, sir?"
"Someone who knows all your secrets."
"...How?"
"Because I'm a magician."
"..."
"That's all the information you need to know about me. Don't ask about me anymore."
Belladia glared at Tellorian with eyes burning with killing intent but eventually curled up like a frightened wildcat. She instinctively felt that the opponent was stronger and smarter than her.
"I'll bury your secrets in the past."
"...There's a condition, right?"
"Correct. From now on, you must follow my guidance."
"...How can I trust your promise?"
"You don't have to believe if you don't want to. However, I will promise to expose your secret to the count if you don't follow my guidance."
At Tellorian's blatant threat, Belladia bit her lip and trembled. She was someone who had never been in a position of weakness in her life.
"But I also have news you'll welcome."
"..."
"I haven't come to treat a nonexistent illness like other magicians, or to break curses that were never cast. I simply came to use you."
The count's closest confidants say that the madness afflicting his only blood relative is the result of an illness, so if treatment succeeds, she will return to being a normal person.
However.
There is no basis for such views.
There is only hope-filled expectation.
"...Use me?"
"I want to become the court magician of Herington County, and the count wants the comfort of knowing your madness has been cured. So I will make it appear as though your madness has been cured."
Only then did Belladia listen to Tellorian's words. Who would imagine? That the beautiful count's daughter who monopolized everyone's love as she grew up was a pleasure killer who got excited by killing people.
"...I have no intention of changing."
"I know. Your nature cannot be changed either."
Belladia will later be known as the Blood Viscountess, a mid-tier villain. She can be recruited as a companion only for protagonists with evil tendencies. Her unique skill [Killing Instinct] is excellent, making her a B-rank if developed as a berserker, or an A-rank if developed as an assassin or blood mage.
"But we can develop your talent."
"...Talent?"
"You have tremendous talent for killing and hurting people. It's too wasteful to squander it on secretly hunting serfs."
Belladia blinked at Tellorian's answer. Since discovering her instincts, she had always considered them a nature that must be hidden.
But talent?
Her cursed nature?
"Killing people in peacetime makes you a murderer, but killing people in wartime makes you a hero. Any exceptional ability is still an ability. What matters is when and where you use it."
Belladia's blue-green eyes sparkled like jewels. Finally, she had developed an interest in following his lessons. But today's lesson ends here. Belladia needs to feel regret to maintain interest in the lessons.
"I'll visit at the same time tomorrow."
"But I want lessons right now."
"Be patient. And killing domain residents is forbidden."
"Then what should I use to satisfy my hunger?"
"Animals. If you're still hungry, then bandits."
At this, Belladia's beautiful face twisted with evil like a hungry beast. It was like being told to only eat vegetables when faced with a rich feast.
"What if I don't want to follow?"
"Then try disobeying my orders."
"..."
"You're a smart child."
Belladia is a character with high abilities in various areas. Her intelligence is sufficient to become a magician, and her intuition is closer to that of a beast than a human.
"So there's no need to experience physical punishment. I'll see you at lesson time tomorrow."
I left Belladia's room after finishing the first instruction. Going down the castle stairs, the Iron Mace Count was waiting with his knights in full armor.
"How did the treatment go? Magician."
"It's off to a good start."
"That explanation is insufficient."
"I'll explain in the prison."
"...The prison?"
"It's a place where others won't hear."
At this, the Iron Mace Count dismissed his attendants and headed to the basement. Also, the jailers who spotted the count bowed their heads and cleared out on their own.
Creak.
As the heavy prison door closed, only the lord and magician remained. Even the torches lighting the darkness were extinguished.
"...Why did you call me here?"
"Because I wanted to confirm directly."
Pop!
As the flame that sprouted from Tellorian's palm drove away the darkness, the daughter's shame that the Iron Mace Count desperately wanted to hide was revealed.
"...Is this what you wanted to see?"
"Let's see."
All the prisoners in the jail were dead.
"Whoa."
"..."
"This is... more serious than I thought."
Miserably.
Horrifically.
[New Subject: Belladia Herington]
[Research Journal has been updated.]