Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 230

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Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty: Celebration Party

“Lady Karen, a letter has arrived from Master Sieg of the Ehlertt family.”

“Thank you, Harald.”

Since it was from Sieg, it probably wasn’t urgent. However, since Karen had finished dealing with all the letters that had been piling up recently, she immediately opened the letter and smiled.

“He’s throwing a celebration party for my D-rank and C-rank promotions, my triumphant return from the dungeon investigation, and my ascension of the rank all rolled into one.”

“How wonderful.”

Harald smiled politely. When Karen thought about it, her social circle was quite flashy, but for better or worse, Harald had no interest in it. There was even a sense that he thought it had nothing to do with him.

Karen chuckled at Harald.

“You’re invited too, Harald.”

“What?”

Seeing Harald’s eyes widen in surprise, looking as if he didn’t understand what was being said to him, Karen grinned and showed him the invitation.

“They want to celebrate your promotion to E-rank alchemist too. It’s an invitation from the children troubled by Bloodline Blessings who are preparing the party together with Master Sieg.”

After Karen had left for the dungeon investigation, Harald had apparently been requested by nobles to serve the herbal tea he’d learned to make to the children. The herbal tea potion Harald had learned to make was only one type of chamomile tea. However, Karen had heard that even that single type had been a great comfort to the children.

Harald stared down at the invitation with a dreamy look in his eyes, completely dazed. Karen patted his shoulder.

“Since we’ve been invited, we need to buy clothes suitable for a party.”

“Yes…”

Karen called for a carriage, pushed the dazed Harald into it, and took him to the tailor’s before he could collect himself.

Alice’s Tailor Shop.

This was a tailor for so-called high-ranking craftsmen, one who could also make clothes for high-ranking alchemists. Karen’s alchemist clothes were also tailored here. The dress she wore at the recent meeting between the two families had also been made here.

Since places frequented by high-ranking craftsmen often required formal wear, they could have formal clothes made with hidden pockets, made from materials with magical resistance for ease of work, and suitable for light tasks as well.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Alice.”

“Lady Karen, welcome. What brings you here today?”

“This is my apprentice, Harald. I’d like formal wear and alchemist clothes for him. I’ll be taking him to the places I go, so please make them of the same level of formality as what you made for me.”

“What is your budget?”

“About the same as mine for each. I think he’s stopped growing, but there’s a possibility he might grow a bit more, so please make them slightly large so they’ll last longer.”

“Lady Karen? I don’t have that much money on hand—”

At Harald’s stiffening face, Karen laughed.

“This is a celebration gift from me, your master, for my apprentice who ascended the steps and got promoted.”

She had been thinking of having alchemist clothes tailored for him as a celebration for his promotion to E-rank alchemist. Harald had grown noticeably taller compared to before she left for the dungeon investigation, but lately his height had not changed much. His growth seemed to have stopped once he became about a fist taller than Karen, so the timing seemed just right. While she was at it, she decided to have formal wear made for him as well.

Harald’s eyes went perfectly round, and his mouth moved wordlessly, but no sound came out. He was a smart and flawless child, but sometimes he froze up at unexpected moments.

Chuckling at Harald, who was frozen now, Karen entrusted him to Alice’s measuring hands.

“Lady Karen, um, thank you very much.”

“You can thank me after the clothes are finished, you know?”

In the carriage on the way back, Karen said with a laugh.

“But I’m so happy… my feelings of gratitude are overflowing and won’t stop.”

Harald clutched to his chest the pouch for holding alchemical tools that he had received earlier. It was the one Harald had chosen from among four types.

“I’ve never had personal belongings bought for me in my entire life… and moreover, a celebration gift… it’s just like, family shopping—”

Breaking off mid-sentence, Harald gasped and covered his mouth with his hand.

“I-I’m sorry! How presumptuous! Um, I don’t want you to misunderstand, but this absolutely does not mean I have romantic feelings for you, Lady Karen. Please understand this point deeply first.”

Harald rattled this off to Karen, who was looking puzzled.

“I also have absolutely no intention of competing with Mister Thor.”

“So you mean you felt like my child?”

At Karen’s observation, Harald froze solid.

“M-My apologies for that slip of the tongue!”

Harald bowed his head vigorously on the opposite seat of the carriage.

Being compared to a mother by a boy only about four years younger than her felt strange, and Karen blinked. Setting aside when his appearance had been small, his physical growth was already catching up to his age. However, since the image of Harald from when he couldn’t grow still remained in her memory, Karen smiled softly.

“I’ve got myself quite a big son.”

“Please kill me…!”

“What a dangerous way to be embarrassed.”

Karen had bought everything for Tim as well—uniforms and necessities for living and working at the shop.

However, those were ultimately things necessary for work. Since Natalia and Sara would scold her for being too indulgent if she gave gifts, Karen always justified it as something needed for work.

Those were surely different from the kinds of gifts parents who visited shops bought for their children.

“An apprentice is like a younger sibling or a child, after all. So being like a son isn’t so bad, right?”

“It absolutely is not okay…!”

A rather sharp retort came back from Harald, who was usually a yes-man no matter what Karen did.

Karen burst out laughing.

“Alchemist clothes made at that shop can be worn even when you become B-rank, so take good care of them, my son.”

“I’m your apprentice.”

After immediately correcting her without missing a beat, Harald cleared his throat and said:

“…I’ll show you I’ll become a splendid alchemist worthy of these clothes.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Yes!”

Harald nodded with a determined expression.

It would be difficult to have a Child of the Dark Night create the non-magical material potions Karen wanted. But Harald could recreate Karen’s potions. She couldn’t help but deeply and heavily place her expectations on his’s future.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 229

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Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Nine: Child in the Darkness

Karen was led into a dim room that resembled an interrogation chamber. The attendant pulled out a chair for Karen to sit, then placed an incense clock on the desk.

“The visiting time is one quarter. When the guard brings the prisoner, he will light this incense clock, so please use the time until it burns out as your guide.”

Thirty minutes was apparently the time allotted to Karen.

Karen nodded at the attendant’s words.

“The guard will bring the prisoner shortly, so please wait a moment—please do not let your heart be swayed by the prisoner’s words under any circumstances. Even though you are a B-rank alchemist, please be especially careful of the miasma of the child of the dark night.”

This facility was the Agency for Special Menial Workers. It was a massive, fortified building near the west gate of the royal capital of Earthfill.

True to its "special" designation, it was an agency for employing people with shady circumstances as laborers. The special laborers were confined within this building and could leave if they were hired. Anyone who hired them was required to impose a life-binding magical contract on the special laborers.

This was a place where people who borrowed money and couldn’t repay it, or who committed crimes, ended up. Naturally, there was no way the work one hired people here to do would be respectable. They were made to do jobs that even F-rank laborers refused to do.

There was no place in this world that wasted resources simply by locking criminals away, so if they were kept alive instead of executed, their lives were put to practical use.

Debtors could leave once they worked off the amount of debt that was covered for them, and those who committed minor crimes could also be released once they were deemed to have sufficiently atoned. It was said that some could also get out with money, connections, or pardons.

—In this facility, there was someone Karen wanted to meet.

That’s why she had asked Natalia and was here using her authority as a B-rank alchemist. The person in question wasn’t yet allowed to appear even as a special laborer, but was confined as a prisoner in a dark underground cell.

“Thank you for waiting.”

After a while, a guard entered the room with someone bound by rope, and Karen widened her eyes in surprise.

The one brought before Karen was a fluffy, white-haired girl with both hands bound in rope.

“Huh…? This child is?”

“Don’t let your guard down just because she has the form of a child. Number 265, stand against the wall and answer this person’s questions without lies or deception. Answer only what you are asked, and do not speak of unnecessary things. Understood?”

A red crest carved into the back of the hand of the girl called Number 265 glowed faintly. With this, through a life-binding contract, the girl could no longer lie to Karen.

“She is an alchemist trained by the organization calling themselves the ‘Children of the Dark Night.’ Adventurers captured her when they raided one of the group’s hideouts. The adventurers on site confirmed she was indeed synthesizing poison before apprehending her.”

“So there’s no doubt she’s an alchemist of the Dark Night.”

The girl watched the conversation between the guard and Karen with wide, sparkling eyes. When Karen gave a slight smile, the girl also smiled brightly.

Karen was taken aback by that friendliness, and the girl moved her mouth silently. She seemed to want to say something, but couldn’t.

Then Karen remembered the guard had ordered her not to say anything unnecessary, so she likely could not speak unless Karen asked a question.

Karen cleared her throat and collected herself.

“Um, I’m Karen, an alchemist. I came here because I have something I want to ask you. I want you to teach me how to make potions from non-magical materials, since you made poison potions from non-magical materials as an alchemist in the organization called Children of the Dark Night.”

“You want to make poison too? Then I’ll be your teacher!”

A bouncy reply came from the girl, and Karen was startled. The voice that came from the girl who looked to be about ten years old sounded like that of a withered old woman.

Seeing Karen’s reaction, the girl made a sad face and grasped her throat with both hands bound in rope.

“This voice is weird, isn’t it? But that’s why I can make potions, you know?”

“…That’s why you can make them? What do you mean?”

“If you eat poison leaves every single day, you become like this. The poison I was in charge of had jagged edges, so I called it Jaggy. To understand Jaggy, I did all sorts of things. And while I was eating Jaggy, my voice became like this. But you know, once that happened, I became able to make potions with Jaggy. They say if you drink my potion, your throat gets burned and you can’t speak anymore. Amazing, right?”

The sadness vanished, and the girl immediately spoke with a somewhat proud air. Surely the people in the organization had praised the girl for being able to make poison.

“…Can you make other potions? For example, healing potions using medicinal herbs?”

“Those are potions that need lots of magical power, right? People who can make those kinds of potions can’t become able to make potions with Jaggy. In other words, it means I have talent.”

The girl puffed out her thin chest.

Karen held her head. To understand non-magical material poison with one’s body, one had to be a person with so little magical power that they couldn’t withstand the poison. Like Harald, for instance. People with abundant magical power would neutralize the poison even if they ate it, so they couldn’t understand the poison.

“Children without talent are made to do dangerous work. They have to do the job of making bad people drink the poison we made. It’s dangerous work, so there are many children who don’t come back. But it can’t be helped. They’re children without talent.”

The children without talent that the girl mentioned were probably children with so much magical power that they could withstand the non-magical material poison. In the organization called Children of the Dark Night, unlike in normal society, children with less magical power might be treated as more talented.

“But I have talent, so someday my teachers will come to save me.”

Karen looked at the guard holding the rope binding the girl while feeling dizzy.

“—What is this child’s magical power?”

“F-rank.”

Normally, that was not enough magical power to become an alchemist. But she had become able to make only poisons through alchemy—probably in exchange for that throat.

The goddess acknowledged the effort. The goddess probably hadn’t abandoned this girl’s life-risking effort even as her body was ravaged by poison. Whether that effort was good or evil didn’t matter to the goddess. And this method was something Karen could never replicate. Something she couldn’t make anyone do.

“So basically, because you worked hard, the goddess acknowledged you, and you were able to ascend the steps, right?”

Karen tried to end the conversation by agreeing with the girl while wearing a bitter smile.

But the girl widened her eyes in puzzlement.

“Huh? No. If you ascend the steps, you lose your talent.”

Losing talent. In other words, she was saying that about the increase in magical power. Just how young had she been when she started receiving education in the organization—she said things completely opposite to common sense in the world.

“But the fact that you became able to make potions means you ascended the steps, right?”

“You have to descend the steps, you know?”

The girl said it matter-of-factly, as if stating obvious common knowledge.

A chill ran down Karen’s spine, and a vision of Horst descending the steps flashed through her mind.

“If the goddess acknowledges you, you can descend the steps. If you descend the steps, your wish will be granted.”

“If you descend the steps? Not if you ascend it?”

“You don’t know anything, do you, miss?”

The girl said with an exasperated look.

“If you ascend the steps, you become a monster. When you die, nothing remains except a magic core—you become a magic beast.”

Karen’s eyes widened.

Karen herself had once referred to a way of dying that left no body after death as being like a magic beast.

“So for people to die while remaining people, they have to descend the steps.”

“—Could it be that the goddess is at the bottom of the stairs?”

“Of course!”

The girl nodded vigorously.

“Beyond the Thorn Forest, the goddess is waiting for us to come. We teach that to lots of people and help them so they don’t become magical beasts. People who’ve already become magical beasts, we exterminate. That’s the job of us Children of the Dark Night!”

Just as the girl finished telling her this, the incense clock burned out completely.

Immediately, the girl was forcibly silenced and led away.

“The criminals calling themselves Children of the Dark Night speak such nonsense and disturb people’s hearts. Please keep your spirits strong, even though you are a B-rank alchemist.”

“Yes… Thank you for your concern.”

The attendant returned to the visiting room and rubbed the shoulders of Karen, who sat slumped over the desk.

If Karen couldn’t train alchemists who could make potions from non-magical materials on her own, she had been thinking of hiring alchemists from the organization called Children of the Dark Night as special laborers to create an environment where someone other than herself could make potions.

But Karen decided to give up on that method. The girl’s perception was too far removed from common sense in this world and seemed beyond what Karen could handle.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 228

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Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Eight: Meeting the Family 4

“Karen, would you like to take a walk with me?”

“I’d be delighted.”

“Hmm?”

Even after dinner, Karen still sounded tense, and Julius tilted his head slightly at her reply before narrowing his eyes in a gentle smile.

“Tonight’s sky-blue dress suits you very well. You said I would think you beautiful no matter what… and while that may certainly be true to some extent, I think sky blue is the color that suits you best of all. I truly feel you’re beautiful, Karen.”

“I-I see. I had a feeling that might be the case.”

Previously, Julius had chosen sky-blue fabric for Karen’s dress. The light blue dress prepared for Sieg’s recovery celebration party. It was still carefully stored in her closet. At that time, even when told it suited her, she thought it was a type of flattery or perhaps teasing, but if that wasn’t the case, when had Julius started thinking of Karen that way?

Karen looked up at Julius walking beside her with a strange feeling. Julius escorted Karen to the garden while occasionally smiling bashfully as he received Karen’s passionate gaze. The night garden was lit up. Magical tool lamps decorated with glass flower petal ornaments illuminated the garden fantastically. Julius seemed to know the garden had been beautifully decorated in advance and was trying to guide Karen somewhere, so she silently followed.

They arrived at a gazebo that became hidden from the building by trees as obstacles, surrounded by nothing but flowers in full bloom, overlooking a shining pond with floating luminous flowers. There were even out-of-season flowers. They were probably made to bloom with magic.

Seeing flowers of all four seasons blooming wildly together outside a dungeon felt even more fantastical, and Karen narrowed her eyes at the surreal scene.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

Julius spoke as if relieved. When she thought it might be Alise’s arrangement, it seemed this garden was prepared by Julius.

Karen walked around the gazebo, trying to engrave everything visible from it into her memory. Seeing Julius following along after her, she laughed.

“Ahaha…!”

After laughing aloud, Karen released the tension from her shoulders.

“Alright.”

She psyched herself up lightly, then turned back to Julius with a smile.

And she knelt before him.

“Karen? What’s wrong?”

“Please become engaged to me, Mr. Julius.”

On one knee, Karen took a small box from the pocket hidden in her dress’s slit and opened it. Julius widened his golden eyes and looked back and forth between Karen and the content of the offered box. Inside the box was a ring that shone with a golden brilliance.

“This ring is a token of my promise of marriage to you, Mr. Julius. We can’t marry yet, but it’s a form of vow that we will definitely marry someday.”

It was no wonder Julius was bewildered. This world didn’t have the custom of exchanging rings for marriage. But for Karen, it was one of the dreams she’d wanted to fulfill someday from her previous life.

“If you’ll get engaged to me, please accept this ring.”

He must have understood that this ring was a special gift from Karen. Julius grasped both the ring box and Karen’s hand, then pulled up Karen, who had been on one knee.

With his golden eyes sparkling, Julius said:

“Of course I’ll accept it, Karen.”

“Then please let me put it on the ring finger of your left hand.”

When Karen held out her hand, Julius honestly surrendered his left hand.

Taking the amber-colored ring shining gold from the small box, Karen gently slipped the ring onto Julius’s left ring finger.

“Wow, it’s perfect! As expected of Mr. Urgo!”

“Karen, this ring—could it possibly be… orichalcum?”

“I splurged.”

Karen puffed out her chest. It had cost far more than the so-called three months’ salary, but the expense had been worth it for a ring that would last a lifetime.

It was an item she’d had custom-made at Urgo’s magical tool shop, spending almost all the money she’d received as compensation from the dungeon investigation, and naturally, it was also a magical tool.

“It’s also a magical tool that stores magical power. If you ever want to avoid magical intoxication, Mr. Julius, please store magical power in this orichalcum ring. Oh, but when I’m by your side, feel free to get drunk without restraint, okay?”

Grinning, Karen took out another small box.

“There’s another matching ring, so please put this one on my left ring finger, Mr. Julius!”

Julius, with a bewildered expression as if bewitched by a fox, put a ring on Karen’s left ring finger in the same way.

During the time the ring was being put on, only Karen was grinning with completely relaxed cheeks.

“Ehehe. Now you are mine, Mr. Julius.”

“Does the ring have that meaning? Is it a commoner custom?”

“Nope. This is my personal charm! Hehehehe.”

While spilling unstoppable laughter, Karen gazed at her own left ring finger with dreamy eyes. Receiving the brilliance of the lamps brightly illuminating the garden, Karen’s ring also sparkled.

Watching Karen bounce around the garden as if trying to gather all its light onto her ring finger, Julius also raised his left hand and narrowed his eyes at the sparkle gathering on his ring.

“…Thor, what are you doing?”

“I’m innocent. But he’s got a face like a girl, so I feel like I did something bad anyway, and I’m accepting the rope to show my sincerity.”

When she visited Helfried’s office, Thor, tied up with a rope for some reason, said something incomprehensible.

From context, the person who "has a face like a girl" was probably Sieg. In the brief time she’d taken her eyes off them, he seemed to have become friendly enough with Sieg to fool around.

“Karen, please persuade Thor. It pains me so much to have a guest in this state.”

Thor seemed to be imprisoned of his own will, tied up with a serious expression. Helfried was holding his head at the sight.

“Thor, don’t trouble Lord Helfried.”

“Okaaay.”

At Karen’s single word, Thor easily loosened the rope.

Toward Helfried, who hung his head dejectedly at Thor being so obedient to his sister, Karen called out with a tense expression.

“More importantly, Lord Helfried! Do you have time now?”

“It’s rare for you to have business with me.”

Helfried raised his face, widened his eyes slightly, and said:

“What is it regarding?”

“Could you please permit the engagement between Mr. Julius and me!?”

“Karen!?”

At Karen, who had bowed her head, Julius showed an expression of shock more than Helfried.

“I don’t mind.”

“B-Brother?”

Julius also widened his eyes at Helfried, who had given permission so readily.

“What are you surprised about? As head of the Ehlertt Earldom, I had hoped for your relationship from the beginning. Karen is an excellent alchemist, after all.”

“We were just talking about that ourselves—the future of both families and all that.”

“Though I must admit I couldn’t focus on the discussion at all.”

Helfried and Thor had apparently been talking about something, as Julius and Karen’s respective relatives.

“Whether Karen marries in or Julius marries out, the House of Ehlertt has no objection.”

“Either way’s fine with me. I’ll go with whatever you want, Sis.”

“That’s hard to decide! But whichever path we choose, a wonderful future awaits, that’s for sure!”

While Helfried, Thor, and Karen proceeded with the discussion smoothly, Julius had been dizzy, but eventually said quietly:

“I want to become Karen’s husband.”

“Mr. Julius?”

“…I want to become yours, Karen.”

At Julius, who gripped his ring finger’s ring as he spoke, Karen showed a gentle smile and narrowed her eyes.

“Then someday, please become my husband.”

“Why not take him as your husband tomorrow?”

Helfried said lightly with a straight face. Karen struck a pose decisively.

“My path in alchemy begins here! If I marry Mr. Julius now, my brain would turn completely mush!”

“Yeah. If Sis gets married, she’ll probably be in no state for alchemy for a while.”

“The ‘brain melting’ thing, is it?”

Thor and Helfried both showed sympathetic smiles.

No matter what they said, this was the one line Karen refused to cross, and she stubbornly folded her arms.

From beside her, Julius leaned in to peer at Karen’s face.

“I’d marry you right now if I could, Karen.”

“Ungh…! Sweet temptation…!”

While Karen writhed, Julius added, almost bursting into laughter:

“—I want to reach the place you’re striving for together with you. So I’ll endure for now.”

“I’ll endure too…!”

Seeing Karen speak, half-crying, Julius couldn’t hold back and laughed aloud.

Helfried also burst out laughing, and Thor started laughing while holding his stomach.

Having been thoroughly laughed at, Karen sulked, saying she’d go cry to Sara before bed.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 227

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Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Meeting the Family 3 (Thor’s POV)

“Master Sieg, would you like to talk with me for a bit?”

“…I don’t mind, Thor. Let’s talk in my room.”

When mealtime ended, there was a break period. Tonight, they would be staying at the estate. And Thor had been told to visit Helfried after finishing his evening preparations. In other words, it was an invitation to speak frankly with each other in a disarmed state. Before that, Thor decided to talk with Sieg.

“Well then, Julius. I’m counting on you to look after Sis.”

“You can trust me with that.”

“Will you two be okay? Thor, make sure not to be rude to Master Sieg, okay?”

Looking displeased that Karen was only cautioning Thor, Sieg hid his sulky feelings behind a smile and said:

“Sister Karen, I’ll be magnanimous no matter what Thor says to me, so it’s fine.”

“Well, if the ever-so-grown-up Master Sieg promises that, then I can relax.”

Karen walked away with Julius, looking relieved. It seemed those two had their own things to sort out, so letting them be alone was what a younger brother should do.

Thor followed Sieg toward his room.

Whether it was trust or lax security at the estate, there were no servants in the room, nor any shadows standing guard. If this was a sign of trust, it wasn’t trust in Thor but trust in his sister Karen.

Thinking about it that way, Thor felt awkward about having provoked Sieg and roughly scratched his head.

“Ah, well…”

As Thor searched for words, Sieg spoke first.

“Sorry.”

“Wait, why are you apologizing, Master Sieg?”

Then, right in front of the startled Thor, a tear slipped from Sieg’s eye.

Thor panicked in alarm.

“Why are you crying!? No wait, it’s my fault, isn’t it!?”

“It’s not your fault. I, on my own…!”

Sieg seemed to be trying to hold back tears, and for that reason was biting his lip hard enough to nearly bite through it.

Instinctively, Thor checked the potions he carried. He should have brought a large healing potion.

“As Sister Karen’s younger brother, I wanted to beat you… I thought such a thing. Even though you’re an honored guest, I took a terrible attitude, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no, no.”

While preparing to take it out in case of injury, Thor broke into a cold sweat.

“Honestly, I knew you guys were being kind to Sis. But part of me still thought you were nobles looking down on us commoners… so I ended up provoking you.”

Assuming the other side saw them as “mere commoners,” Thor had in turn dismissed them as “just nobles.”

“Part of me wanted to put you in your place because you’re a noble… But the only reason that taunt worked was that you genuinely care about Sis.”

Nobles sometimes tried to take in commoners. If that commoner had useful power, nobles skillfully executed this. And Karen had that useful power and the personality to give it away without limit to those she considered family.

There had undoubtedly been those who saw through that side of Karen and tried to worm their way close to her. But although he knew genuine feelings suited to the bond they were forming were certainly there, he couldn’t help but needle him anyway.

“Master Sieg, I’m the one who should apologize.”

At Thor’s bowed head, Sieg nodded with red eyes.

In the awkward silence that fell, Sieg eventually spoke.

“…Why do you address me like that?”

“Huh?”

“You call Uncle Julius just ‘Julius,’ yet you insist on calling me Master Sieg. Why?”

Thor scratched his cheek at Sieg’s bloodshot-eyed question.

“No matter what I say to Julius, his feelings for Sis won’t change, so it’s fine. Rather, if they’d change over something like this, I’d like him to exit stage immediately.”

“My feelings for Sister Karen won’t change, no matter what you call me, either.”

“Then I’ll call you Sieg.”

When Thor said this, also dropping the polite language, Sieg nodded while looking sulky.

“Well, that’s fine. You are Sister Karen’s younger brother after all.”

“But hey, Sis calls you ‘Master Sieg,’ right? Why just me?”

“I thought it would be too much to get ahead of Uncle Julius.”

“Huh?”

Recalling the interactions between Karen and Julius, Thor tilted his head.

“But if Sis plans to enter this noble house, won’t that way of addressing you stick forever? That’s why I’ve been putting on a polite front.”

“Who knows? It depends on what Sister Karen wants. Whatever path she chooses, I intend to support her.”

Even though the Ehlertt family surely had its own objectives, Sieg spoke calmly.

Seeing Sieg, Thor realized that the boy before him was truly Karen’s ally.

“…You’re a good younger brother.”

Sieg looked up as if startled, stared at Thor, then looked away bashfully.

“You’re a pretty good younger brother too. If Sister Karen had a B-rank adventurer as a younger brother, she could hold her head high. Unlike me, you’re strong, so you can protect her from various dangers.”

“But doesn’t Sis seem like the type who’ll make enemies even a B-rank adventurer can’t handle?”

“Ah…”

Sieg made a complicated face, and Thor gave a wry smile, realizing this brother also understood Karen well.

“That’s why I’m aiming to become an A-rank adventurer. Well, not just for Sis’s sake—I want it myself too. Anyway, while I’m gone, I’m counting on you to look after her, Sieg.”

“I can’t fight, though?”

“There are enemies that can only be dealt with by the authority of the next head of an earl’s house, right? The kind that a B-rank adventurer couldn’t handle if they attacked indirectly.”

Sieg narrowed his intelligent blue eyes and nodded with a serious expression.

“…That’s certainly true.”

“Let’s divide the roles.”

Thor grinned with dilated pupils.

“There are guys like Lyos in this world. I’m keeping quiet because Sis isn’t saying anything, but to protect her from guys like that, one younger brother isn’t enough.”

It was a fact that became clear as soon as he left the dungeon and talked with old acquaintances and friends in the royal capital of Earthfill.

Karen was probably trying to hide it to prevent Thor from retaliating. Remembering how things were in the dungeon, the relationship didn’t seem that bad, so Thor chose to stay silent, but if he got the chance, he intended to repay the favor.

Sieg narrowed his blue eyes and said with a cheerful smile:

“Crush Lyos? Our family hasn’t made a move so far, but if we wanted to, we could even kick him out of the Royal Knights.”

“Nah. Sis doesn’t like relying on people, but for some reason she thinks it’s fine to trouble Lyos as much as she wants. If possible, push him up to a position where she can work him like a mule. It’s annoying, though.”

“…Uncle Julius would probably hate that if he knew.”

Sieg, who was like a younger brother to Karen yet Julius’s nephew, looked conflicted.

Thor declared as purely Karen’s younger brother:

“It’s just right to make him think she might be snatched away from him if he neglects her even a little. That way, Julius will treasure Sis like a jewel, right? Actually, she is in high demand. Her junior disciple, whom she got recently, apparently likes her too.”

“Eh, what, I didn’t know that!? Uncle Julius probably doesn’t know either!?”

“Everyone who was at the alchemy workshop that time has tight lips, huh.”

The fact that the information hadn’t reached the Ehlertt family’s intelligence network likely meant exactly that. Thor, who intended to leave this place eventually, felt relieved at that fact.

“I’m putting Sis first no matter what, but what are you going to do, Sieg?”

“Hmm.”

Sieg’s hesitation lasted only a moment.

“Rather than everything in this world going Uncle Julius’s way, I feel like Uncle Julius would be happier if things went Sister Karen’s way, so I’ll put her first as well.”

“Julius does seem like he has some wishy-washy parts.”

“Despite how he looks, he’s surprisingly delicate.”

Thor raised his fist. Seeing it, Sieg widened his eyes in surprise. Thor, a commoner who usually conformed to noble customs, decided for once to do things his own way—or, tracing it back, Karen’s way.

According to Karen, it was called a high-five. Karen was a palm person, but Thor was a fist person.

Thor took Sieg’s right hand without permission and lifted it, then made him grip it into a fist. Bumping his own fist against it, Thor grinned.

“Looking forward to working with you, Sieg.”

“Y-Yes, looking forward to it, Thor! …Big Brother.”

Thor ruffled the head of Sieg, who had added that in a very small voice. The moment Sieg shouted "Stop it! Thor!" with a red face, the maids came tumbling into the room.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 226

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Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Six: Meeting the Family 2 (Thor’s POV)

“You became B-rank a year ago—is that correct?”

“How did you know? My information should be confidential.”

“That’s exactly why. The time when your information trail went cold makes it easy to tell when you were promoted.”

“Ah, I see.”

The dinner party proceeded peacefully.

Karen had a tense expression, but that was concern about whether Thor might commit some blunder toward the Ehlertt family. It did not look like she feared becoming part of the household.

To reassure Karen, Thor demonstrated proper etiquette and manners while eating, even if his speech remained casual. However, that only unsettled Karen further, and for some reason, Sieg Ehlertt—the heir of the Ehlertt Earldom—glared at him.

Thor grinned at Sieg and then looked at Karen.

“Sis, isn’t this super good?”

“Do you want my portion as well?”

When Thor said something was delicious, Karen would very naturally try to share her portion with him. It had always been like this. Long ago, when their father was absent, she would take Thor’s hand with her small one, and when they shared meals in the corner of the neighborhood tavern, she would try to let Thor eat as much as he wanted of whatever he wanted.

Not just food—everything. If someone close to her said they wanted something, she tended to give it away. Thor had long predicted that someday someone would appear who would take advantage of this aspect of Karen and try to take things from her.

“Yeah, give me some.”

Thor begged with a smile. He deliberately asked for a dish made with aromatic vegetables Karen did not particularly like, showing off his privilege as her younger brother to Sieg.

“Say ahh.”

Karen seemed unaware that this was considered a breach of manners. Though she was supposedly learning etiquette at the Ehlertt family’s estate, the teaching seemed quite lenient.

Thor had learned etiquette when he was a C-rank adventurer. From C-rank onward, noble clients increased. He didn’t prefer taking requests from nobles, but there were requests from the guild that had to be accepted. For that reason, Thor and his party were forced to learn etiquette.

He learned it, thinking he’d be killed by nobles if he made a mistake. Some even told him to his face that they would kill him if he messed up. Not all nobles were like that.

But in fact, Thor’s party at the time—Crimson Thunder party, including Thor himself—had encountered situations where they would indeed have been killed as promised if they’d messed up. By the hands of nobles who saw not the slightest value in the lives of low-rank commoners.

—Even the comrades who once said they would prove those nobles wrong when they rose in rank ended up claiming that low-rank people looked like trash once their own rank increased, becoming sympathizers with the nobles.

It seemed that rather than rank itself, climbing the steps and gaining greater magical power caused people to become like that. But whether fortunately or unfortunately, Thor felt something was off about that way of thinking. Somehow, he felt he was this way thanks to Karen, so it was probably a fortunate thing.

The current Karen seemed free from the tension Thor had once been forced to endure. Neither Helfried nor Alise had applied that kind of pressure to Karen. They had protected her.

Even now, they were just watching Karen and Thor’s interaction with warm smiles. Though the mother had noticed her son’s state and was smiling wryly.

“Heh.”

In the corner of his vision, Thor could see Sieg trembling with his girlishly cute face bright red, and finding it amusing, Thor laughed with the mouth he’d been about to open.

The only miscalculation was that the gaze from Julius, sitting on Thor’s other side, was also painful. That gaze was not condemning a breach of manners either—it was blatant jealousy.

In any case, it was just amusing, and Thor opened his mouth wide as if to show off his relationship with Karen.

But the next moment, a maid inserted herself between Karen and Thor and plopped food onto Thor’s plate with a thud.

It was exactly the dish he’d been about to receive from Karen.

“If you need seconds, there’s still plenty more, Mister Thor.”

The silver-haired maid smiled cheerfully, but her eyes weren’t smiling.

Since she was the maid who frequently delivered letters and packages from the Ehlertt family to the alchemy workshop, Thor at least knew her name.

“Sara, let’s talk later.”

“Yes, Lady Karen. Later, then.”

“Actually, would late at night be okay?”

“Any time is fine. I’ll be waiting.”

She was not merely a maid—she was Sara, Karen’s friend. And she was also the loyal maid of the future earl.

She seemed to have seen through Thor’s prank on Sieg and come to stop it.

When Thor, having been neatly thwarted, looked toward Sieg, Sieg wore a thoroughly satisfied evil smile. It was truly the smile of an evil noble in the making.

“Good thing you got plenty, Thor.”

Karen peacefully resumed her meal, and Thor crunched through the mountain of vegetables piled on his plate.

Thor had fully expected that during the meal, only he would be made to answer questions. That it would be the so-called “commoner appraisal” that he not-so-rarely experienced when invited by nobles.

If you assumed you had simply been invited as a guest, you would be caught off guard. If you failed to realize you were being treated like livestock in human form whose pedigree was being evaluated at an appraisal meeting, you would surely respond the wrong way.

However, even without Thor asking, Helfried and Alise spoke about various things. About the Ehlertt family, about their territory, about troubles there from the present to the past. They spoke of things that shouldn’t be told to outsiders, much less to commoners.

What impressed Thor was that Karen showed no surprise at their stories and seemed to already know about them. What interested him most was the story of how the alchemist they’d hired for their son became their great benefactor.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 225

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Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Five: Meeting the Family

“Thor, the Ehlertt family is nobles, but they’re all good people, so you don’t need to be too nervous. But still, they are nobles, so I’d be happy if you could treat them a bit more politely than usual.”

“I know. Leave it to me, Sis. As a B-rank adventurer, I deal with nobles pretty often, you know?”

“I see.”

Thinking back on the Thor she’d seen from their reunion until today, his words were dubious, but surely the people of the Ehlertt Earldom would forgive a little rudeness.

Karen let out a breath and adjusted Thor’s cravat one more time.

As she did, the sound of a carriage approached.

“Looks like our ride is here.”

“…Right.”

Karen nodded with a tense expression.

Tonight, Karen and Thor had been invited to a dinner party at the Ehlertt family.

If it had been just Karen, she wouldn’t have been this nervous. But tonight, even Thor was invited. The implication behind that made Karen feel tremendous pressure.

“It’ll be fine. Since it’s a favor from you, Sis, I’ll handle it well.”

Thor, clad in formal attire, flashed the same cheerful grin he always had. The wild orange hair he usually let run free had been carefully slicked back today, leaving his forehead exposed.

His outfit was noble formal wear, tailored from scratch for tonight. He looked quite good in it, though that might be Karen’s favoritism as his older sister.

Karen’s dress was also tailored the same way as Thor’s. Though there were still some dresses Alise had given her that she hadn’t worn yet, it felt wrong to wear those tonight, so Karen had prepared her own dress.

When Karen gripped the invitation tightly, the bell rang.

“Let’s go, Sis.”

Thor held out his arm. At least he seemed to know the conduct of escorting. Feeling just a little relieved, Karen was supported by Thor’s arm and, seeing off by Harald, left the house.

“Karen, Thor, I’ve come to pick you up.”

Julius, who had descended from the carriage, was also dressed up in noble formal wear.

“How’s this dress? I chose it myself—is it strange?”

At Karen’s desperate question, Julius’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re very beautiful today too, Karen.”

“Hmm. You’d think that no matter what I wore, wouldn’t you, Mr. Julius?”

“Ah, perhaps so. After all, you yourself are the most beautiful.”

“You’re no help either, Mr. Julius!”

“Alright, alright, quit flirting with me stuck in the middle.”

Thor pushed Julius aside and helped Karen into the carriage.

Thor climbed in after her and took the seat beside Karen, while Julius sat opposite her.

The carriage proceeded straight toward the Ehlertt family’s residence.

“Earl Ehlertt, Countess, thank you very much for inviting me today. My name is Thor, a B-rank adventurer and the younger brother of Karen, a B-rank alchemist. I am honored to make your acquaintance.”

Karen looked up at Thor with a face like a pigeon hit by a peashooter.

Seeing Karen like that, Helfried, who had come out to greet them, smiled wryly.

“I am Helfried. I’ve heard about you. You can behave as you normally do, Thor.”

“This is simply my way of showing respect to the members of the Ehlertt family who have treated my sister so kindly. Please do not concern yourselves—I am not forcing myself.”

“Your sister seems to be the one forcing herself, Mr. Thor. Hehe.”

At Karen’s blank expression that wouldn’t return to normal, Alise burst out laughing as if she couldn’t hold it in.

Thor looked down at Karen and returned his speech to normal, saying, "Come on, Sis.”

“I can do at least this much, you know? You totally didn’t believe me, did you?”

“W-Well…”

“You’re the one who kept reminding me over and over not to be rude to nobles. So I’m being courteous, but what are you getting surprised for, Sis?”

“Sister Karen looks troubled, so you can just act normally. Father and Mother said that’s perfectly fine.”

“Sister?”

When Thor looked down at him with a puzzled expression, Sieg—who had come out with Helfried and Alise—looked back up at him with a deep frown.

Looking down at Sieg, Thor put on an amiable smile.

“However, it appears that the future head of the house finds my manner displeasing. I would gladly adjust my behavior so as not to trouble you.”

“Not really. I don’t care about your attitude at all.”

Sieg turned his face away with a huff.

Alise frowned at his behavior.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Thor. I am Alise. My son has been rude to you. I’ll have him correct it. Sieg, didn’t I tell you to treat Mr. Thor as someone older than you?”

“Please don’t worry, Countess. Though I am a B-rank adventurer, I am a commoner.”

Karen felt a chill as she noticed the sarcasm that had seeped into Thor’s words. Even nobles were expected to show respect to a B-rank adventurer. Yet there were surely nobles who would still look down on someone simply for being born a commoner—and that, too, was unavoidable.

However, Alise smiled gently without any sign of noticing the poison Thor had mixed into his words.

“Neither being a commoner nor being a B-rank adventurer matters. You are the younger brother of Ms. Karen, who is precious to us. So please allow us to show you our heartfelt respect.”

At Alise’s words, Thor’s eyes widened slightly.

“Sieg, isn’t Ms. Karen important to you too?”

“Sister Karen is important, but…”

Sieg, unusually sulking like a child his age, suddenly glared at Thor.

“As Sister Karen’s younger brother, I won’t lose even if we’re not related by blood!”

After declaring this loudly, Sieg turned around and walked away briskly.

Thor watched his retreating figure with a blank expression.

“Thor, I apologize for my son. He seems to be burning with rivalry toward you. I’ll scold him well later, so please forgive him for now.”

“No, it’s fine. You don’t need to scold him. If he was looking down on me for being a commoner, that would be one thing, but he doesn’t seem like that kind of guy.”

“Looking down on someone for their status is absolutely unthinkable. Our great benefactor, Karen, is also a commoner.”

“…I see.”

At Helfried’s firm declaration, Thor blinked.

“Sieg really adores Karen, Thor.”

“…Seems like it.”

Responding to Julius’s words in a murmur, Thor looked at Karen, who had been watching the direction Sieg had disappeared with an affectionate expression.

“You really are amazing, Sis.”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“Nothing.”

Thor turned back to Helfried and Alise and bowed.

“Then I’ll take you up on your kindness and behave as I normally would.”

At Thor’s words, Helfried narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, and Alise smiled warmly.

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