Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 194

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Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Four: Alumni Reunion 3

“What!? Mr. Julius!?”

“Karen, I came as your partner, but was that a bother?”

Julius, who embraced her from behind, wore a terrifyingly sparkling smile. Moreover, despite this heat, he was dressed in his formal knight’s attire with full force.

There were wealthy people among commoners too, and especially many successful individuals among those who graduated from commoners’ schools. So there were people dressed well enough to be mistaken for nobles, but Julius’s appearance with his styled hair was dazzlingly brilliant, and from his bearing and manner, an aura of nobility overflowed abundantly.

At this commoners’ school alumni reunion, Julius stood out completely. Even the women who had been watching Karen’s conversation with Ahim with displeasure were now stunned as if their souls had been extracted at the sight of Julius.

Karen agreed with that feeling in her heart—she understood it well. To commoners, Julius was far too radiant to cause squealing and fussing.

While everyone was entranced by Julius, Karen looked up at him and caught her breath. Though Julius wore a beautiful smile, his golden eyes weren’t smiling.

His magical power seemed to be raging with heightened emotions, making his eyes glitter intensely. Perhaps to suppress his magical power, a strong fragrance wafted from him as if he were carrying about five sachets.

Karen broke out in a sweat from the waves of anger emanating from Julius.

“Should I perhaps have invited you…? But, you see, this commoners’ school reunion is, so to speak, a networking venue for me—a work occasion, and I wondered if it would be appropriate to invite you to a work event, Mr. Julius. It’s a place full of commoners, and while it’s true that it’s fine to bring a partner, it’s not mandatory, and plenty of people attend alone.”

Julius narrowed his eyes while maintaining his smile.

“Indeed, I do understand. For me too, socializing is part of work. I’ve attended countless times as an obligation, and even after I began seeing you, I’ve attended social functions for the Ehlertt family alone. I considered them not the sort of occasions to burden you with. However, I hadn’t realized that this behavior would make you feel this way, Karen.”

“No, I don’t mind at all when you attend social functions alone—”

Seeing Julius’s smile deepen, Karen fell silent without finishing her sentence.

For nobles, attending social gatherings was precisely part of their duties. Dancing there was merely a greeting, performed to build relationships. Even married people danced. Of course, there was also the aspect of searching for a marriage partner.

However, while Karen couldn’t help but wish Julius wouldn’t dance with anyone, she had never voiced it, nor had she ever thought she wanted him to take her as his partner. Because she had thought it was a world separate from hers.

So now, Karen didn’t understand what Julius was feeling.

While she was thinking, Julius’s fingers caught the hand Karen had been extending to take Ahim’s.

Julius looked at Ahim.

“I’m sorry, but Karen has me as her partner. Please give up on dancing with her.”

“—Hey, Karen, that guy’s a noble, right? So you’re already being kept by a noble?!”

Ahim ignored Julius and shouted at Karen.

“Wake up, Karen! I don’t know what sweet words you’ve been deceived by, but you’re just being used!”

“That’s not true, Ahim.”

“It is true! Nobles, no matter how kind they act, don’t think of us commoners as the same kind of humans! These nobles put on friendly faces for us because they want to make our abilities their own. They just want to use us!”

“Well, there’s probably some desire to make use of me.”

The people of the Ehlertt Earldom were very kind to Karen and felt gratitude toward her. But still, she could glimpse their intention to incorporate her into their fold.

For nobles, marriage was also politics. If there was a house that possessed something they wanted, they would consider marriage with that house.

Before Karen accepted the Ehlertt’s commission, if Julius could have obtained a Legendary-class magic-sealing magical tool simply by marrying the princess, he would have married her.

Karen had understanding thanks to interpreting nobles through her previous life’s knowledge. For someone raised as a pure commoner, these were incompatible values.

“Even if that man shows signs of liking you, he doesn’t really like you.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

If this had been Karen from a little while ago, she would have taken Ahim’s words to heart and become depressed, but the current Karen stated firmly:

“This person truly cares for me.”

“There’s no way that’s true! Don’t spout such delusional nonsense! Are you planning to throw away alchemy again and waste your time devoted to a man!?”

Everyone who learned of Karen and Julius’s relationship initially said the same thing. They were all worried about Karen. Because from an outside perspective, Karen and Julius were far too mismatched—Karen said with a bitter smile:

“At first, I also thought that if Mr. Julius was around, I might get distracted and unable to concentrate on alchemy. But, Ahim—”

“Don’t say it, I don’t want to hear it.”

Ahim irritably cut off Karen’s words.

“I was stupid to think you’d finally returned to the path of alchemy. No—maybe I was the one who underestimated your talent. I should have known sharp-nosed nobles would sniff it out right away, and that a pure, romance-brained girl like you would be as easy as twisting a baby’s arm for a handsome nobleman. It’s my fault for not making it in time.”

“In time?”

Ahim glared at Karen, who tilted her head.

“I’m going to create the Philosopher’s Stone, Karen. I’ll create the Philosopher’s Stone that you could have made too if you’d devoted yourself to alchemy—and that’ll wake you up.”

After spitting out those words, Ahim turned his back on them.

Ignoring the people trying to stop him, Ahim left the hall.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 193

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Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Three: Alumni Reunion 2

“Ahim boy, you’re B-rank!?”

“That’s impressive. You’re still young, yet you’re B-rank—that’s quite an achievement.”

Since Ahim had declared it with such a dignified attitude, people gathered around in no time. Not just classmates and upperclassmen and underclassmen, but even much older senior alumni.

Karen tried to quietly slip out of the circle, but Ahim pointed at her and stopped her.

“This girl is also a C-rank alchemist at the young age of nineteen.”

“What!? Karen is?”

People who knew Karen looked surprised, while people of different generations who didn’t particularly know her sent honest looks of respect.

Just because it became known that Karen was a C-rank alchemist, the atmosphere of the people who had been keeping their distance from her softened. Of course, there were exceptions, but they were clearly in the minority.

Rather than feeling relieved at the situation, Karen felt deflated.

If the dispute with the Gubert Trading Company had dragged on, Karen’s bad reputation would have spread further, and the resentment would have run deeper. Alternatively, if the Alchemists’ Guild’s protest had gone through, the Gubert Trading Company’s infamy—and their claims, which contradicted Karen’s—would have spread, possibly leading to people suffering business losses and harboring grudges against her.

The public would surely have found the opposition between Karen and the Gubert Trading Company entertaining and would have made it a big topic of conversation. However, the opposition Karen had envisioned didn’t occur. That’s because the conflict with them had ended in an unexpected way.

Not being in hostile territory was a good thing, but Karen sighed at the reality that wasn’t going as planned and looked at Ahim. In the end, it seemed he had also approached her, thinking Karen was a C-rank alchemist. In reality, she was B-rank, but either way, it was the same in the sense that she wouldn’t have been noticed if she had remained low-rank.

And that was precisely the situation she wanted to change.

“You said not to call your name casually, so I totally thought you were treating me as a rival even though you thought I was F-rank. What a shame.”

“If I thought you were F-rank but were showing off a B-rank brooch, that wouldn’t be treating you as a worthy opponent—it’d just make me have an incredibly terrible personality.”

“…That’s certainly true.”

It would be exactly like a petty villain tormenting someone of lower status.

“Karen, let’s move somewhere else. It’s gotten noisy.”

Having heard that Ahim was a B-rank alchemist, the gazes of people lighting up with the intention of getting close to him under the pretext of the reunion’s informality stabbed into Karen. Particularly painful were the gazes from women of marriageable age. Ahim was the same age as Karen, if she remembered correctly—a nineteen-year-old B-rank alchemist. For many women, he would be a highly coveted marriage partner.

“Karen, go ahead. The existence of an alchemist of the same generation and comparable ability is valuable.”

At Natalia’s words, Ahim furrowed his brow slightly.

Karen nodded. Indeed, this was precisely one of the connections she had been seeking at the reunion.

Normally, it was just a gathering to meet old friends, drink, eat, and go home, but Karen had finally reached the point where she could take part in commoners’ socializing.

Natalia went to join the circle of guild members from other industries as usual. Seeing her off, Karen also moved to the wall area with Ahim.

“Who has comparable ability to whom? Even though it’s only a difference of one rank, from B-rank, it’s a different world, you know? It’s a different world from C-rank.”

From C-rank was advanced. From B-rank was a different world. From A-rank was the Goddess’s domain.

Ahim didn’t seem convinced by Natalia’s words, but before Karen could offer any explanation, he continued with "Still…”

“I think that someday, you’ll definitely catch up to me, Karen.”

“Why do you think that?”

As a matter of fact, Karen was already a B-rank alchemist.

Even though he shouldn’t know that, why would he say something like that?

“Because you beat me. —That day, you shattered my world.”

It was during an alchemy class at the commoners’ school.

Ahim was the only student from an alchemist family in the class, so the teacher called him forward and had him make a model minor healing potion. Called up, Ahim held his head high and confidently showed them how to make a minor healing potion. Karen watched that and reproduced the potion in an instant. After that, she was praised by everyone, including the teacher, so she only vaguely remembered it, but she did recall seeing Ahim frozen in place. At that time, he had apparently been dazed after having his world shattered by Karen.

“Sorry about that, I guess?”

“Don’t apologize! You demonstrated your ability. And I lost! —But since then, I’ve never let my guard down. I’ve kept running at full speed and made it this far. But what about you? Just when things are about to get good, I hear you’re making frivolous stuff like cosmetics.”

When told "recently," Karen tilted her head, but thinking about it, the series of events—starting to sell cosmetics, being harassed by Isaac, and having her business crushed—had all happened this year. The events in the dungeon were just so intense that it didn’t feel recent at all.

“Even if you got promoted to C-rank with crappy potions that don’t even help defend the country, would that make you happy? Even if the Alchemists’ Guild recognizes it, I don’t. If you’re an alchemist, make proper potions. You beat me once, even if it was just that one time—don’t become some money-grubbing alchemist! If you’re an alchemist, aim to create the Philosopher’s Stone!”

“Ooh.”

“Don’t clap like it’s someone else’s business…!”

When Karen, moved by Ahim’s speech, applauded, he got angry. It seemed he really didn’t know that Karen had become a B-rank alchemist.

Information about B-rank and above was basically kept confidential except for matters the person wished to share. Ahim’s assigned guild staff member probably knew about Karen’s promotion to B-rank, but Karen’s information seemed to be properly protected.

At Ahim, glaring at her, Karen grinned.

“Of course, I’m also aiming to create the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“You said it, right? You can’t take back what you’ve said, you know?”

Having extracted a promise from Karen, Ahim smiled with satisfaction. Apparently, provoking her had been his goal. To light a fire under Karen, who had once defeated him, to make her aim for even greater heights.

“Let’s compete to see which of us can reach the Philosopher’s Stone first, Karen.”

The Philosopher’s Stone was a legendary item even in this fantasy world. And Ahim was challenging Karen to a contest with the dead-serious premise of creating it. It was amusing and exciting, and Karen’s eyes sparkled.

“Sure. Let’s compete. I definitely won’t lose!”

“What gives you the right to say ‘definitely’? Right now, you’re the one who’s losing.”

“I wonder about that? Maybe the information just hasn’t come out yet.”

When Karen said this in a lowered voice, Ahim’s eyes opened wide and round.

Information about B-rank and above was kept confidential. As a B-rank himself, Ahim would know well the fact that no one could access information that the person didn’t wish to make public.

“—Hey now, seriously!?”

“It’s a secret, a secret! I’m planning to do various things after I hire a supporter who used to be an adventurer!”

“This is getting interesting…! I knew it, I knew it! You’d climb up this far! As expected of the woman who beat me! That’s how it should be!”

When he realized Karen was B-rank, Ahim’s face immediately broke into a smile.

“But I’m going to go even higher, you know? If I could become a B-rank alchemist before turning twenty, I was promised I’d be taken on as an apprentice by a master alchemist!”

Hearing "master alchemist," Karen pictured the elf who lived on the second floor of her home alchemy workshop, but that elf had absolutely no intention of taking on any disciples other than Karen, so it was surely a different person.

“Man, today’s a good day.”

Ahim received wine from a waiter and handed one to Karen as well.

“To the future of alchemy.”

“To the Philosopher’s Stone we’ll someday create.”

They toasted.

After gulping down his wine, Ahim said with a smile:

“I’m glad you got dumped by Lyos. That freed up your time, and you were able to get promoted, right?”

It was an insensitive thing to say, but Ahim said it with such genuine happiness that it didn’t feel rude. Besides, it was an undeniable fact.

Ahim put down his wine glass and held out his hand to Karen.

“Karen, want to dance with me?”

“Huh?”

“We don’t have partners anyway, right?”

Karen’s eyes widened in surprise.

The commoners’ school reunion was a social venue, but until last year, Karen had been only an F-rank alchemist.

Even when she tried to gain connections, no one would associate with her, and she would just reconnect with old friends, occasionally get commissioned to make minor healing potions, and eat, drink, and go home. She had never even considered that she might be invited to dance.

“Um—”

“If you aim for the heights, you’ll end up dealing with nobles too. It’s better to be able to dance, you know? For those nobles, it’s apparently like a greeting. Think of it as practice.”

Thinking he had a point, Karen reached for Ahim’s hand—and at that very moment, she was seized from behind in a bear hug. The scent of a sachet Karen remembered making herself tickled her nose.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 192

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This is the beginning of the next section/arc, “Nobles and Commoners” (chapters 192-236)

Section Six: Nobles and Commoners

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Two: Alumni Reunion

When they emerged from the dungeon, the outside world had already turned to summer. Perhaps due to the seasonal disorientation, as soon as Karen returned home to the alchemy workshop, she collapsed and ended up sleeping for a whole week while being cared for by Harald.

Karen had finally managed to get back on her feet, but now she had come to a reunion. It was a reunion hosted by the commoners’ school.

The school hall had been transformed into something resembling a ballroom held by nobles. In the adjacent room, there was a buffet-style table lined with light refreshments. A band was in the hall playing music, making it possible to dance.

The commoners, who weren’t as accustomed to dancing as nobles, mostly danced only with their accompanying partners.

“There are lots of people again this year.”

“It’s a rare opportunity to gain connections with people from other industries.”

When she had opened the letters that had piled up during her absence, she found an invitation, and the event date was already close at hand. Although she hadn’t sent a response about her attendance, Natalia had negotiated with the school as a member of the Alchemists’ Guild and made it possible for her to attend.

For commoners, this annual reunion was an important social venue. Experts from diverse fields who had gathered based on the single common thread of having graduated from this commoners’ school. Interactions with them would nourish Karen.

Although she had somehow managed to attend this important social venue, Karen was being conspicuously kept at a distance.

“Natalia, what kind of rumors are there about me?”

“There’s a rumor going around that you were in conflict with the Gubert Trading Company. The Alchemists’ Guild also issued a protest statement and tried to get them to retract their statement, but… while we were negotiating, their son caused a serious incident…”

Upon receiving the report of Isaac’s crimes, the Gubert Trading Company had effectively collapsed. On the surface, it still appeared to function as a trading company, but internally, it was in chaos and in no condition to hold discussions.

“So it’s gotten all muddled up.”

“Yes, I’m sorry for not being able to do more. It’s a rumor that would die down instantly if we revealed your true rank, but it would be better to do that after you have a supporter.”

“A supporter, huh…”

Currently, Karen’s alchemist rank was B.

Apparently, the Alchemists’ Guild had been contacted the moment Karen created the panacea inside the dungeon, and at that point, Karen’s promotion to B-rank had been unofficially decided. From Natalia’s perspective, B rank was low for someone who could make panaceas, but according to Gabriel, it was difficult to grant a higher rank for Karen’s panacea, which differed from a formally recognized one.

In any case, if it were revealed that Karen was a B-rank alchemist, people’s attitudes toward her would soften, but jealousy would also increase. For that time, she needed to have a way to protect herself.

“Still, I don’t really want people around me who would distance themselves just because I stood up to the Gubert Trading Company.”

“I’ll remove the adventurers who declined last time from the list.”

While nodding at Natalia’s kind words, Karen looked around.

There were several groups keeping their distance from Karen.

One consisted of people who had often hung around with Marian before—people who believed status and magical power were everything. At one point, they had even tried to ingratiate themselves with Natalia. They were the people who had been present at the scene where Karen’s engagement to Lyos was broken off, and who had applauded without any reservation or hesitation.

There was also a group who appeared to be adventurers, believing the bad rumors about Karen. If they believed the Gubert Trading Company’s statement—that Karen was trying to hinder the company’s dedication to the dungeon investigation team for the sake of insignificant children—and knew no information beyond that, it made sense they would have that kind of attitude.

Karen felt that she had, in her own way, accomplished things. However, commoners had almost no opportunity to learn about what happened in noble society.

The people of the adventurers’ district were friendly to Karen, who had been born and raised among them, but they were tight-lipped with outsiders, so neither good nor bad news from the adventurers’ district spread outside.

Adventurers who trusted one another also didn’t leak each other’s secrets.

For better or worse, none of the people here knew about the commission Karen had received from the Ehlertt Earldom, her ability to create potions that cured magical intoxication, or that she had ascended the ranks.

That’s why they didn’t want to get involved with Karen, who was in conflict with the Gubert Trading Company, which outwardly still existed.

They would change their attitudes if they learned Karen was a B-rank alchemist. However, even if they changed their attitudes and approached her at that time, Karen wouldn’t feel like being friendly with them anymore.

If it were Julius, Karen could have accepted that he was interested in her abilities, but the people here weren’t Julius.

That was just as Karen sighed.

“So this is where you were, Karen.”

Hearing her name, Karen turned around.

The one who strolled toward her with an air of ease was one of Karen’s former classmates.

“Long time no see, Ahim.”

“Don’t call my name so casually, Karen. You and I live in different worlds.”

Saying that, the blue-haired young man Karen had called Ahim grinned fearlessly.

“I’ll make you realize it today, Karen. That day, at that time, in that class! Just because you made a potion faster than me! That was merely a coincidence! You can never stand above me!”

Ahim pulled it out from his pocket with a flourish.

Holding it between his index and middle fingers, he showed it off with a smug face.

“Look! At this brilliance, this beautiful silver light! This is a mithril brooch! The mark of excellence, of a B-rank alchemist!—This is the lofty height you can never reach!”

The brooch hadn’t arrived yet, but Karen was also a B-rank alchemist.

So she understood just how amazing it was to become a B-rank alchemist.

Karen clapped her hands.

“So you’ve become able to make greater healing potions. Congratulations.”

“Don’t calmly congratulate me. Be frustrated. Come on.”

At Ahim glaring at her, Karen scratched her cheek.

When Karen had studied alchemy at the commoners’ school and successfully made a potion for the first time, her classmate Ahim was the only other person besides Karen who had succeeded at potion-making.

A thoroughbred from an alchemist family on both parents’ sides.

After receiving elite alchemy education from childhood, in the commoners’ school’s alchemy class, he had taken more time to create a potion than Karen, who was seeing it for the first time, and after his potion was judged to have weaker effects and worse magical efficiency than Karen’s, he had persistently hassled Karen about various things.

That said, she hadn’t been hassled at all in recent years, so she had thought he’d long since forgotten about her.

He apparently still regarded Karen as a rival, even though he seemed to know nothing about Karen being scheduled for promotion to B-rank, let alone anything else.

When Karen chuckled, Ahim glared at her fiercely, which made it even more amusing. As an alchemist, she could only think of it as being recognized by a fellow alchemist.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 191

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Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-One: Goddess’s Merciful Rain

As the sun set, rain began to fall—an unusual occurrence in a dungeon where climate and seasons were typically fixed and stable. It was cold, cold rain.

On that freezing night, Karen made milk soup curry and distributed it. For many people, that became dinner.

To observe the effects of the panacea she’d made, Karen made the rounds of the patients’ tents. There she found Therese and her companions, and Karen finally remembered their existence, realizing she hadn’t seen them around.

Since Waltride had been kidnapped, it was only natural that Therese’s party, who had been guarding her closest, would have been caught up in it.

“Lady Karen… We received your panacea. Thanks to it, my party members were able to cling to life. I offer you my deepest gratitude.”

Though Therese herself could not rise from the bed, she nonetheless focused every ounce of awareness down to her fingertips and carefully showed her respect toward Karen.

Karen answered curtly:

“I’m an alchemist, so I’m just helping people who can be saved with potions. Please don’t concern yourself with it.”

“…Lady Karen, did you know that Sir Julius was such a person?”

She was probably referring to the battle with the elder treant. According to what Karen heard later, when she’d wondered why Therese wasn’t returning, apparently Therese had been using water magic to weaken the flames on the burning adventurers. That was why she couldn’t return from the front lines. Apparently, she hadn’t just been watching Julius.

Perhaps it was thanks to Therese’s water magic that Karen had been able to extinguish all the flames. Even so, it irritated her to say that she hadn’t seen Julius’s fight, so Karen gave a roundabout answer:

“I heard various things from Mr. Julius himself!”

“Weren’t you frightened?”

“Not at all. Not in the slightest.”

Julius, who said killing was enjoyable. When she saw Julius thinking of himself as terrifying, Karen was accustomed enough to seeing such people that she wondered why he went that far.

Even so, she had never once seen her younger brother Thor, who had loved hunting monsters since childhood, take pleasure in killing people. If she witnessed such a thing, she might be frightened even if it were her brother.

Nevertheless…

“—From now on, even if there are things I find frightening, I have no intention of leaving Mr. Julius’s side.”

“You’re strong, Lady Karen. I seem to have been dreaming about Sir Julius. When I actually spoke with him, he was quite different from the Sir Julius I’d imagined… especially when he was with you. At first, I thought it was because you were a valuable talent, but…”

Therese’s speech became fragmented.

She was a mage. If she’d been contaminated by fragments of a black egg, the consequences would be immeasurable. Though Karen was curious about the words that followed, as an alchemist, she called out to her:

“Please rest now, Lady Therese.”

“When Sir Julius disappeared… I couldn’t go look for him. I was the party leader… and I had escort duties… and I convinced myself that Sir Julius would be fine… When you came to help him, Lady Karen, I am sure Sir Julius was very happy…”

“Why do you think that?”

When Karen felt irritated and inadvertently asked Therese, who spoke as if she understood Julius, Therese smiled.

“Because I was also very happy to be rescued… Being alone in a dungeon is so lonely and frightening…”

Rather than understanding Julius, those were Therese’s feelings.

After Karen made a surprised face, she adjusted Therese’s sheets.

“Please sleep. What should heal won’t heal otherwise.”

“Yes, Lady Karen…”

Therese smiled and fell asleep.

Leaving the tent and blending into the pouring rain, Karen muttered softly:

“I’m glad I was the one who met Mr. Julius first…”

Surprisingly, even to Karen herself, the source of that feeling wasn’t jealousy.

Even if Therese had met Julius first, and even if Julius had chosen Therese, she would still have remained a princess to be rescued by him, and she would not have gone to save Julius herself.

If that was the case, then it was better that Karen met him first.

She even thought that even if they hadn’t met like this, they would have met eventually. It was not a matter of fate, but simply that Karen was Karen and Julius was Julius, making their meeting inevitable.

Karen exhaled.

Finally, Karen was able to think that it was good for Therese to exist as one of the reasons Julius could take pride in himself.

Even afterward, the knights appeared to be hard at work, despite the rain making the ground slippery and the view difficult. From Karen’s perspective, the incident had already been resolved.

Although they couldn’t reach the mastermind, the research facility in the blank zone—likely the primary cause of the dungeon’s abnormalities—had been burned down by the pegasus, and monsters would probably stop crossing the boundaries from now on. Things would probably be difficult again after leaving the dungeon, but that was that. However, for people who thought the dungeon was collapsing, it was not that simple.

In the midst of all this, only Karen—who knew everything was already over and had finished her duties—had her mind completely occupied with something else. Currently, she was in front of Julius’s tent.

“M-Mr. Julius! It’s Karen!”

“—Come in.”

“Excuse me…!”

Julius was sitting in a chair.

While Waltride’s tent was almost like a room, Julius’s tent seemed to have only the bare minimum necessities.

Karen inadvertently looked at the bed placed at the edge.

Perhaps because of Julius’s height, it was quite large—if they pressed together, two people could sleep side by side.

“Karen.”

“Yes!”

“Come here.”

“Yes…!”

Karen removed the cloak she’d been wearing as rain protection.

Under the cloak was nightwear. Taking advantage of being on the eighth floor, tonight she’d polished her body to a shine.

With the cooperation of Irmlinde and Dorotea, she’d left no gaps.

Standing before Julius, Karen watched his hand extend to her cheek and closed her eyes.

As she waited with her heart pounding—a soft sensation pressed against her forehead and withdrew.

She’d apparently been kissed on the forehead.

When Karen opened her eyes in surprise, Julius smiled.

“Thank you for keeping your promise, Karen.”

“Eh? Ah, yes.”

“Well then, good night. Since Her Highness Waltride’s tent, which you’ve made your base, is right nearby, you won’t need an escort.”

Julius gently urged Karen to leave.

To the dumbfounded Karen, Julius smiled wryly.

“My magical intoxication has subsided, so I no longer have business with you.”

“Whaat!? B-But I came here having prepared myself for everything!”

“Please don’t take the foolish nonsense I spoke while intoxicated in the future seriously.”

“What about your promise to give me an incredible kiss without holding back, with one hundred percent pure desire from you, Mr. Julius!?”

“I don’t recall making such a promise, Karen.”

Julius said that with a smile. After all, it was just Karen who had wished for it unilaterally. Now that his magical intoxication had subsided, apparently, everything had calmed down.

Karen held her head.

“I-I should have gotten you to kiss me with appetite or whatever…! When will you ascend a step next time!?”

“Please don’t look forward to my magical intoxication. It only shows you my worthless true nature. It’s far too different from the me you said you liked. …You should leave now. Lingering in a man’s tent isn’t good for you.”

“Ah, wait!”

Julius tried to push Karen out of the tent.

At such unreasonableness after calling her out in the middle of the night, Karen grabbed Julius’s hand that was pushing her back.

“Even if your feelings have calmed down, my feelings haven’t calmed down at all—! I came here a little scared, yes, but filled with anticipation!”

All the desires that exploded when Karen was magically intoxicated were ones she’d held all along. Just because she was intoxicated didn’t mean the desires disappeared—it only exposed desires she’d been hiding.

That was why she pushed back, but when she saw Julius looking down at her with an expression on the verge of clicking his tongue, Karen quickly lost her nerve.

“I see, well then, see you tomorrow—”

With a dejected face, Karen tried to hurriedly leave, but Julius’s hand grabbed her arm and pulled.

“Wah!”

By the time Karen realized it, she’d been thrown onto Julius’s bed, and before she could even move, Julius had straddled her.

Hearing the sound of the simple bed creaking, Karen closed her eyes to accept him as Julius’s face approached.

Julius’s lips gently touched her lips.

It was a different kiss from when he’d been driven by the hunger of a black egg.

At first, Karen accepted it comfortably, though bewildered, but eventually she opened her eyes slightly and noticed.

Julius showed no sign of closing his eyes at all and was watching Karen’s reactions.

Realizing that, unlike before, there was no breathless pressure—only pure comfort—Karen flushed red as if her whole body had boiled. Julius continued kissing her while closely observing even that reaction, and only when Karen grew limp, unable even to resist, did he finally pull away.

“Karen, I apologize for not meeting your expectations, but unleashing my desire on you without holding back is still too early for you. You should leave now.”

“But…”

“Let me cherish you, Karen.”

The troubled smile held a pleading tone, and Karen’s eyes widened.

She could feel that Julius, who believed himself to be a monster meant to be feared, was desperately trying to discipline himself by the good he believed in.

“You are my goddess. I absolutely don’t want to do anything that would cloud the sky that is you. Please.”

To Julius’s earnest plea, Karen said blankly:

“Mr. Julius, you really do like me…”

“I’m concerned by your manner of speaking, as if you hadn’t believed it until this very moment, but yes. I’ve come to love you… So I can no longer let you go. I’m sorry.”

Karen already knew the reason he spoke as if that were a bad thing. Julius wore a bitter smile probably because he thought Karen’s feelings would change if she saw Julius’s true nature. He apologized probably because he stubbornly believed Karen would want to run away someday.

Since she didn’t feel at all that Julius would believe her even if she said that wouldn’t happen, Karen set that aside and asked:

“What do you like about me? And since when?”

“In any case, could you please get off the bed? And I would like you to leave the tent. Your presence here is bad for my heart.”

To Karen, asking excitedly, Julius said while holding his head.

Since she didn’t want to trouble him, Karen reluctantly got up from the bed, hurriedly put on her cloak, and left the tent.

When she turned back to Julius, who had come out to see her off, Karen said with a smile:

“I like you too, Mr. Julius!”

“Do you truly like me? Beyond my looks, my body, my status, and my honor—do you have anything else you like about me?”

“That hurts!”

It was an undeniable fact that she’d been attracted to exactly those things.

“But listen! Now I also like other things about you!”

“What do you like about me?”

“I asked first! You should answer my question first!”

When Karen asked at the peak of excitement, Julius let out a soft chuckle.

And he smiled bashfully as if forgetting his conviction that Karen would run away from him someday.

“Everything about you, Karen. I’ve come to love everything about you. From much earlier than you think.”

Karen grinned broadly and fidgeted as if holding something back.

But unable to hold back, she jumped at Julius, rain and all.

“I love you!”

At Karen’s embrace without reserve or consideration, Julius couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

It was a noisy night. In a situation where the dungeon was suspected to be on the verge of collapse, Royal Knights and adventurers were mobilized regardless of the night, taking turns subjugating monsters.

They also had to investigate the suspicious research facility apparently run by the group that kidnapped Waltride and the abhorrent research conducted there—people worked busily turning over charred rubble burned by the pegasus and rushing about searching for evidence, running to bring word to the surface, trying to extract information from the few captured prisoners.

The guard for the once kidnapped Waltride and Weiss, the baby pegasus Waltride had brought back, had also been increased.

On top of that, countless curious eyes were watching from the entrances of Waltride’s nearby tent and the maids’ tents. Karen, seeming unaware of all those gazes, innocently embraced Julius, was lifted up, and looked down at Julius with a smile.

Karen didn’t say it out of consideration for Julius, who had wished for self-control earlier—but Julius, who realized she was looking at him with eyes that wanted to kiss him as her feelings dictated, could no longer hold back either.

Julius looked up at those sky-colored eyes and smiled, and this time, Julius closed his eyes. Then Karen’s lips gently rained down on Julius.

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Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 190

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Chapter One Hundred and Ninety: Drunkards

“Karen!”

Reporting to Boromias was the final part of Karen’s job. When Julius, who had waited patiently for her to finish, finally called her name, Karen flinched.

She wanted to run away. She had been reckless because she thought she might die, but looking back now, even if it was to extract information, she had been a pervert approaching him naked.

She had desperately wanted to hear Julius’s story before dying, and couldn’t afford to be choosy about her methods. Still, thinking back on it now made her face feel like it would burst into flames.

There were also the words Julius had spoken just before they parted. What did those words truly mean?

At the time, she had felt happy, yet she had also wondered if they were nothing more than empty words meant to keep her from leaving. She hadn’t really reached a conclusion.

Regardless of the truth, it had been sufficient for Karen when she thought her life might end. But now that she had survived and returned, things were different. If she didn’t confirm what Julius meant by those words "I love you," she surely wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Still, she was certain she would be scolded.

She desperately wanted to escape—but Karen couldn’t run away. Karen had forcibly drawn out the secret Julius had kept hidden in his heart. She already knew the reason Julius believed he would surely make people fear him. If she ran away now, Julius would surely misunderstand and think Karen was afraid of him.

Now that Karen knew everything, she could no longer run away. Karen planted her feet firmly on the spot and resolutely looked at Julius. He had a deeply troubled expression, and Karen’s heart ached. As he placed his hand against Karen’s cheek, Julius suddenly pulled her toward him.

“Eek!”

“I was very worried, Karen.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“…No, it’s not something you should apologize for. I’m the one who should apologize for trying to stop your progress again. I said I would support you, yet I’m sorry.”

Normally, if someone said such things and headed toward a dangerous place, anyone would want to stop them, even if they weren’t lovers.

Yet Julius apologized to Karen. Karen had been sure she would be scolded, so she stared up at Julius blankly.

“If I were so worried, I should have gone with you.”

“But, that’s…”

People with magical power couldn’t enter that place of their own will.

To bring Julius along, she would have had to knock him unconscious and carry him. But Karen, when she had no magical power, was so weak she couldn’t even drag Julius.

Even if she could have brought him by another method, a person with magical power probably wouldn’t have been able to move properly. Even Julius, though he had managed to walk on his own, looked pained and breathless—in that condition, he would have been helpless against multiple men, even if no one used magic.

In that place, it was Waltride—who had been more energetic than usual—who was the true anomaly. And Karen herself was the strange one for being able to move without any magical power.

Karen didn’t know what to say to Julius, who began saying he should have made the impossible possible.

She thought he was in despair.

But Julius wasn’t in despair at all.

“If I were worried about you, rather than holding you back, I should have followed you by any means necessary. If an elder treant and a pegasus could cross the dungeon boundary, why couldn’t I do the same?”

That was because the elder treant and pegasus had been broken. But unable to say that, Karen’s mouth opened and closed helplessly.

“Even if monsters can’t cross unless the dungeon is broken, what about humans? Just as intelligent humans can confront and defeat incredibly powerful monsters using magical tools and magic—there must be something I can do.”

Karen’s entire body broke out in goosebumps. She felt the color of the magical power composing the interior of the dungeon change. Julius, still looking down into the sky in Karen’s eyes, widened his eyes as if he had found something there.

“If something must be broken to cross the goddess’s boundary, then even if I must break myself—ah, I see. Is that it?”

Julius’s eyes shimmered with rainbow colors, and that brilliance reflected in Karen’s eyes as she looked up at him.

From the sky looming close, particles of rainbow light rained down on Julius.

Karen was bathed in those particles of light too.

Karen had noticed that the elder treant and the pegasus had been willing to sacrifice themselves to save their children, yet she had not truly understood it until this very moment. In other words, even if the dungeon itself wasn’t broken—one could cross its boundary by breaking oneself. As long as they paid the price, monsters could leave the dungeon of their own will at any time.

It wasn’t defying the goddess’s providence. This was rather within the scope of the goddess’s providence. Only humans thought that monsters couldn’t leave dungeons and couldn’t cross boundaries. As long as they paid the price, both monsters and humans—everyone had the right to use this back door.

—Julius, who had realized this truth on his own, was ascending the steps.

Karen, receiving the spillover and ascending the steps slightly herself, swallowed hard. From now on, surely Julius would follow her no matter how dangerous a place she headed toward. For Karen’s sake, even if he had to pay the price.

The moment she thought that, tears overflowed from both of Karen’s eyes. Seeing Karen like that, Julius narrowed his eyes and said:

“Karen, I don’t want you to feel bad for me. Just as you live for your desires, I’m simply living for mine.”

At Julius’s words, Karen shook her head from side to side while crying.

“That’s not it. Actually, I was a little scared. This time, quite… I thought I had to pretend to be fine in front of Lady Waltride, so I was trying hard, but…”

She had been fairly serious in thinking she might die. That was why she regretted not being kissed one last time.

“Even though a price is necessary, even though I feel sorry about it, when I thought that from now on you would be with me, it felt so reassuring—”

Julius’s face drew closer, and Karen just barely slapped her hand over his mouth to prevent the kiss.

With his mouth covered, Julius frowned in displeasure.

“Why are you stopping me? Karen.”

“Because I have to make the panacea for everyone now! It would be troublesome if you sucked out all my magical power! You definitely won’t be able to restrain yourself, will you!?”

Julius’s eyes were swaying with rainbow colors. He was completely drunk on magical power.

In this situation, there was no way he could restrain himself from the act he had said he couldn’t restrain himself from even after drinking a magical power recovery potion in a stable state.

—Looking down at Karen, who was turning bright red from embarrassment at what she was saying, Julius tilted his head with his mouth still covered.

“Indeed, I don’t feel like I can hold back.”

“What do you mean hold ba—Kyaa!?”

Her palm was licked, and Karen screamed and pulled her hand away from Julius’s mouth.

As Karen looked up at him, her face blazing red, Julius smiled at her. It wasn’t his usual gentle smile, but one that felt somehow cruel, and Karen caught her breath.

“I’m dying to teach you right now just how much I’ve been holding back with you until now. Won’t you please accept me? Karen. I don’t want to force a kiss on you either.”

As he spoke, Julius captured Karen’s arms.

He left Karen with no way to escape and leaned his face closer. He seemed unable to restrain himself. Even so, the fact that he tried to obtain her consent despite his impatience was very much like Julius.

Karen knew well that when drunk on magical power, self-control became ineffective. No brakes at full throttle. Becoming an unstoppable force. So Karen, half-resigned, muttered with a sulky face:

“I was hoping you’d kiss me once you weren’t driven by hunger anymore.”

At Karen’s grumbling, Julius stopped moving abruptly.

While glaring at Julius with a red face, Karen threw a small tantrum in her slightly tipsy state from ascending the steps, however little.

“I wanted a life where you’d give me an amazing kiss with one hundred percent pure desire from you, Mr. Julius, with no holding back!”

“—I see.”

“What do you mean ‘I see’!? Do you understand how I’d feel getting so deflated thinking that even if you kissed me so intensely, it might just be because you’re hungry!?”

“Indeed, it would be vexing to be thought of as desiring you due to being affected by poison.”

Julius’s face moved away from Karen.

“I’ll endure it this time. But Karen, in exchange, I want you to come to my tent tonight.”

“Um… tonight, meaning…”

“I mean, I want you to visit me with full resolve for everything, Karen. If you promise me, I’ll release you for now.”

While acutely sensing danger, Karen swallowed with a not-entirely-displeased expression.

“I-I understand!”

“Then I’ll release you. If you want to run away, even by breaking your promise, go ahead, but be prepared when you’re caught. The real me isn’t patient, isn’t kind—I’m a cruel and greedy person.”

Julius displayed a cold smile that he had never shown Karen before.

“No matter where you try to run from now on, I can follow you. Please understand that I have no intention of ever letting you escape.”

It seemed Julius was quite angry after all that Karen had reported that she was going to a deadly place from somewhere completely beyond his reach, and then fled.

Looking up at Julius, who looked down at her with golden eyes that were cold yet harbored heat in their depths, Karen thought with her drunken head that this wasn’t bad at all…

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