Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 341

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Forty-One: Price of Baptism 2 (Mark’s POV)

“Believe it or not, until not that long ago, we acted all friendly on the surface. Well, that woman hated me the whole time deep down, though.”

Teresa said it in a casual, unhurried tone as she walked along a road that looked familiar. Mark had barely been outside since arriving in the Ehlertt capital—so if it looked familiar, it had to be the way they came.

“As for my father, he’s an adventurer, and he liked to play the good guy, so even with someone like me, he put on the loving father act because hey, daughter and all that.”

Teresa walked and talked with a smile, like she was making idle conversation. The road seemed to be leading back toward that dim, oppressive tavern they had just left.

“But because of that Horst business… they started saying having a man in the party with a daughter like me would displease the goddess, and he got pushed out of his party.”

Teresa was laughing, as though she couldn’t quite contain it. Nothing about this was funny, and Mark felt the blood draining from his face just from listening.

“So he dumped me right away. Said all sorts of things, but basically I was in the way.”

Yes—being in the way was why they were abandoned. That was the same for everyone. Lena was the only one who believed otherwise; everyone else knew the truth.

“The funny part is, dumping his daughter made his old party members want nothing to do with him, and he ended up never getting back in! Isn’t that hilarious?”

It wasn’t. Even Michael wasn’t laughing. He just wore that expression of his that looked like he wasn’t thinking anything at all. In the past, Mark would have taken that at face value. Now, Mark thought it simply meant he couldn’t tell what Michael was thinking.

“He made his whole living off being a nice guy. Said he loved me no matter what. Then he dumped me, got exposed as a liar, and his life fell apart. The old hag was a famous adventurer, but she’d been nagging him to get rid of me from the start, but he refused back then, and his own family had already cut ties with him long ago.”

Teresa was smiling. It was a smile that made Mark uneasy. Just as he’d expected, Teresa arrived at the tavern where the failed adventurers gathered. The owner had told Teresa to leave because ‘he’ would be coming in the afternoon—and yet here she was. Mark didn’t point it out. Teresa knew full well, and was here anyway.

“Nowhere to go. Fell apart. Broke.”

Teresa was still laughing as she opened the tavern door—and in the same instant, she went flying backward.

“How dare you show your face in front of me?”

The man reeked of alcohol. His face was a bloated red. He was probably blond, but he was balding with white mixed in, and it was hard to tell. His eyes were bloodshot, a deep crimson.

It happened so fast, but Mark was close enough to catch it. The moment Teresa had opened the door, this man had grabbed her by the collar and hurled her. Then the man straddled her where she’d fallen and closed his hands around her thin neck.

“Let Teresa go—!”

The man swatted Mark away with barely any effort—that was the only way Mark could describe it. But that single blow sent Mark crashing into the wall. His whole body screamed with pain like it was coming apart, and when he coughed, a thick smear of blood came out of his mouth. The fear wiped his mind blank.

Teresa struggled and shouted.

“Idiot! Looks can be deceiving—this man’s C-rank. Stay back… ngh—!”

“Because of you! Because of you! Because of you—”

Teresa was going to die like this. The thought formed in Mark’s mind while his body refused to move so much as a finger. He searched the room with his eyes for Michael.

Michael was making his way away from the scene with Lena over his shoulder. He’d probably gone to get help. Even knowing that, Mark felt a hollow, abandoned despair wash over him.

But then, in the very next instant, the man straddling Teresa went flying.

“That’s enough.”

Mark couldn’t track what had happened with his eyes. But a man had appeared from nowhere with one leg raised, so he had probably kicked away the man who had been strangling Teresa. Teresa coughed violently, then looked up at the newcomer with a suspicious look.

“Who are you?”

“Sharp as a tack. Good for you. I’m Sepl. Karen’s supporter.”

“Oh—”

Teresa’s expression shifted to understanding, then curled into a sneer.

“This guy might be a has-been, but he’s still a C-rank adventurer. Stay out of it, retired.”

“Hah, what a mouthy little brat. Just what I’d expect from a kid Little Karen picked. Reminds me of Thor when he was small.”

“Eh—of Master Thor?”

Teresa’s voice suddenly went soft and sweet. Sepl let out a long, deep sigh.

“Hahhhhh—Thor’s gotten so big people address him like that now? Should’ve roughed him up more when he was a kid.”

Footsteps drew closer, and Sepl gave Mark something to drink. The pain faded, but an overwhelming drowsiness rushed in to take its place.

“He lost too much blood. I should’ve stepped in sooner—”

Sepl’s voice grew distant.

So we’re safe, Mark thought, relief so overwhelming it brought tears to his eyes—and then he lost consciousness.

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 340

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Forty: Price of Baptism (Mark’s POV)

“—Teresa!? You’re alive?”

When they entered a tavern filled with smoke that smelled even more bitter and unhealthy than medicinal incense, the intimidating-looking owner stared at Teresa as though he had seen a ghost.

“How awful! You thought I was dead?”

“What are you doing dragging around a bunch of well-bred-looking brats? You… no, never mind that. Just get out of here right now.”

Thinking that the man was being unbelievably rude, Mark remained silent behind Teresa.

The owner scrunched up his nose.

“He’s coming.”

“Really? I thought he’d be in a dungeon somewhere since it’s already afternoon.”

“He’s been drunk solid lately.”

“Missing me, maybe?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’d kill you if you met. Get out of here, fast.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Teresa answered lazily and turned around, walking back out of the tavern the way they’d come. Mark had no idea what was happening, but simply followed along.

“Doesn’t seem to be a good time here. Want to go grab something to eat?”

“Um, about being killed…?”

“Maybe some cranky adventurer is coming. Don’t know, don’t care!”

It was obviously more than that, but Mark couldn’t bring himself to push further with Teresa laughing it off so easily. They followed Teresa through a strangely narrow passage between buildings, until they ended up in a cramped alley. Teresa walked on with her usual confident stride and entered one of the run-down apartments.

Then she let herself straight into a room. Mark wasn’t sure whether he should follow, and hesitated—but a sharp cry erupted from inside, and they all rushed in.

“Why are you back here!? Get out of here! Get out!”

A red-haired woman was screaming. She looked like she’d just woken up, hair a tangled mess, clothes wrinkled beyond reason. She was clutching a cushion and beating Teresa with it.

“I’d rather have been barren than given birth to something like you!”

Even without hearing those words, the relationship between the woman and Teresa was obvious. The woman’s contorted face looked exactly like Teresa’s. Mark tried to let go of Lena’s hand to step forward and stop her from hitting Teresa, but Michael moved first.

“Beautiful lady! A frowning face doesn’t suit you at all, does it?!”

Mark seriously questioned Michael’s sanity. Teresa, still being hit, was staring up at Michael with an unbelievable expression. The woman froze, blinking at him in a daze.

Even if that had been his plan, Michael was still holding the same decisive expression, and Mark continued to seriously doubt his sanity.

Eventually the woman was the first to recover. She raised her hand and slapped Michael across the cheek. The sharp crack of it made Mark wince, and he rushed forward.

“We’re leaving! Come on, let’s go! Michael, quit sulking and get up!”

“Ow, that hurt… that actually really hurt…”

Mark helped the dejected-looking Michael to his feet. Teresa stood up on her own with a composed expression, brushing the dust from her clothes.

“I’m taking some money. You’re my mother, so you owe me at least a little allowance, right?”

“Get out—!”

The woman screamed and burst into tears. She was the one who’d said something terrible, and yet she cried with the face of a victim.

Teresa’s expression didn’t change. She picked up a coin purse that had fallen to the floor, then strolled out of the room.

Mark tried to follow after her, but something stopped him. Lena had stopped walking. She stood staring down at the red-haired woman crouched on the floor, crying wretchedly, with an intense gaze.

“That just now? My mother. She got treated as an inconvenience by her husband’s family to begin with after having someone like me, and when they finally threw her out, she blamed me.”

Teresa was eating a wild boar stew that was extravagant for something served in a town tavern, and answered Mark’s question with the air of someone discussing nothing in particular.

“She gets money every month as hush money, so I drop by sometimes to collect some of it. Free meal, basically.”

“Hush money? For what?”

“Because they don’t want anyone knowing I might be the child of a man from that family. If they were serious about burying the truth, they’d have paid to silence me as well.”

What Teresa meant by "someone like me" was people like Mark and the others. A hollow feeling settled in Mark’s stomach. The stew in front of him looked delicious, meat-filled and rich, but he couldn’t eat. Next to him, Michael was eating heartily.

“I envy how carefree you seem.”

“Mm?”

Michael looked up, blinking. Teresa gave him a dubious look too.

“Actually, are you stupid? Were you trying to flirt with her or something? Even if you were trying to help me, it made no sense.”

Normally Teresa would have said something like “mind your own business.” But Michael’s behavior was so genuinely baffling that she was simply at a loss.

“I thought I’d try to make your mother laugh, Little Teresa…”

Michael swallowed what was in his mouth and offered something resembling an explanation.

“Well, I guess it was the kind of situation where the options were either laugh or beat you to death. If I were in her shoes, I’d also have gone with beat.”

“That’s because she doesn’t think of us as human beings.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Normal people sometimes forget that we’re human just like they are, don’t they?”

Michael kept the same easygoing smile, the same tone throughout. But Mark felt a chill run down his spine and couldn’t stop staring at him. Teresa was watching Michael with a furrowed brow, looking almost the same way Mark felt.

Michael, paying no attention to their gazes, continued in exactly his usual manner:

“So to remind them that we feel pain, that we cry when things are hard—I make them laugh. Because when you can make someone laugh, they remember!”

He was the same Michael as always. Smiling that bright smile that made you think he’d been sheltered and carefree all his life, protected by his sister and his noble birth.

“That the person in front of them is still human, even without magical power!”

Mark had never been treated the way Teresa had. Because the village he grew up in was a small farming community on the outskirts of a dungeon’s sphere of influence, and no one had assessed his magical power until he was older.

And he had left the village almost entirely of his own will. Not wanting to be a burden—though, thinking back on it now, there had been a certain way that things had been arranged to make it feel like his own will.

He had always thought Michael had it better than him. That Michael had been pampered and sheltered all his life. Mark had never experienced anything that would have led him towards the kind of understanding Michael described.

“Noble society sounds terrifying. Oh, you don’t have to go into detail. I don’t want to ruin my meal.”

Teresa said it, then resumed eating as if she’d heard nothing at all. Michael tilted his head with a little "Oh?" and went back to his food.

The only ones whose hands had stopped moving were Mark and Lena.

Lena sat with her head bowed, staring into her stew, her face unreadable—impossible to tell whether she was listening or not. She didn’t move at all.

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 339

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Travel Funds and a Pretext (Mark’s POV)

Teresa seemed to know this town well, walking ahead without the slightest hesitation. Slipping deftly through the crowds, she was so quick that Mark had to be careful not to lose sight of her. He gripped Lena’s hand and followed as best he could.

“Little Teresa! You’re too fast!”

The one whimpering at the very back was Michael. He simply had no stamina. Probably because he was a noble—surely he’d never had to work a day in his life. How enviable.

“Sooo slow.”

Teresa stopped, looked down at Michael with disdain, and sighed.

“Whatever. I had business here anyway.”

With that, she walked into a nearby shop. Mark and Lena followed her in.

“Hey, granny, buying today?”

“Hmph. The stuff you bring in is never any good.”

“Got something good this time.”

It was a cluttered little shop, apparently a general goods store, packed with all sorts of odds and ends. The old woman who ran it and Teresa seemed to know each other, exchanging words with easy familiarity. Teresa rummaged through her pack and pulled out a cloth pouch. The old woman took it, peered inside, and her expression changed.

“Where did you get something like th—!”

“Granny, you really don’t know what’s going on out there, do you? Your back’s gotten that bad, huh. Can’t even stand up straight anymore—you’re properly decrepit now. Maybe it’s time to shut up shop and go live with your daughter.”

“Quiet, you. It’s true I can’t get out much, but that’s because of an old wound a monster gave me. It has nothing to do with my age. Don’t go treating me like some old crone.”

The old woman shot Teresa a sharp glare, and despite looking utterly frail, that gaze sent a chill down Mark’s spine. She had surely been an adventurer once.

“More importantly, you didn’t steal this, did you?”

“Got it as a gift. I’ve got a pretty solid sponsor right now.”

“Not some shady type, I hope. I don’t need trouble at my age.”

“Just someone stupid enough to be way too kind.”

Teresa said it bluntly. The old woman widened her eyes and let out an impressed, "Oh?”

“…Interesting. Never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“Also a little crazy.”

“Well, giving something like this to a brat like you—yeah, must be crazy.”

With that, the old woman slowly made her way with her cane through the stacks of wooden crates toward the back of the shop, then returned with a leather pouch.

“There.”

Teresa caught the tossed pouch easily. It made a metallic clinking sound. Teresa peeked inside and let out a whistle.

“If it turns out this was something I shouldn’t have sold, don’t come crying to me later—I don’t want trouble either, so if—”

“Yeah, yeah. Nothing else to do here.”

Ignoring the old woman, Teresa left the shop without a backward glance.

“You insolent girl—!”

A shout chased after them, but the old woman herself, with her bad back, didn’t follow. Teresa didn’t care in the slightest.

“What did you sell just now?”

Michael asked, completely innocently, and Teresa answered in a low voice:

“Small panacea.”

“A pa—mmph!?”

“Don’t shout. You think it’d go well for kids like us if a bunch of people found out what we’re carrying?”

With his mouth covered, Mark turned pale. He understood perfectly well that nothing pleasant would come of it. With the amount of magical power he had, he could already guess roughly how the rest of his life would go.

And thinking about it, the source of that panacea was obvious. Karen. The genius alchemist who had brought a panacea no one else could make to the surface, by means other than dungeon drops—Mark had heard about her from Harald until his ears were practically rotting off.

“How did you end up getting something like that?”

Michael was a noble; Lena was indulged for being small; and Teresa had been given an extraordinarily precious medicine. Why was everyone else treated so differently from him—from all of them? Surely every other child besides Mark had wondered the same thing.

“Because I’m Karen’s lab animal. She’s just made sure the lab animal doesn’t die.”

“Huh?”

Mark was stunned by the unexpected reply, but Michael simply moved on and asked another question:

“So what are we doing next?”

“I hire an adventurer with this money.”

“Eh!?”

“Obviously. There’s no way we can get out of the territorial capital on our own. What do you think I sold that for? Travel funds.”

Teresa explained it to the astonished Mark with exaggerated patience.

In that case, they should have been headed to the Adventurers’ Guild. If the guild staff there grew suspicious—or if Mark could make them suspicious—they’d be held up. Mark could even cause a scene himself, if it came to that.

But Teresa crushed his half-formed plan immediately.

“Guild’s too easy to trace. We’re going to a back-alley tavern. I know a place where bored adventurers hang around.”

Teresa walked with practiced confidence into a narrow, dim alleyway. Was it really alright to go in here? Mark was worrying about it when Teresa stopped.

“Oh, and—”

In the time it took Mark to blink once, Teresa had already drawn the dagger from her hip, and by the second blink, the point was leveled at his throat.

Cold sweat broke out all over Mark.

“You’re thinking about pulling something, aren’t you?”

“N-No…”

“Listen. All I need is for you to not get in the way. If you’re a good little boy, go home now. But if you’re coming, don’t interfere. Get in my way again, and I’ll stab you—so, which is it?”

“Which is it…?”

“Mark, if you don’t want to get yelled at later by Lady Karen, or Teacher Harald, or my Big Sister… Big Brother, no, Big Sister, you should go home now.”

Apparently, in Michael’s mind, being scolded by his sister was scarier than facing Karen or Harald. He had even accidentally called her his brother halfway through.

Those words made Mark hesitate.

He could turn back now and go report to Karen and Harald everything the letter hadn’t been able to convey. In other words, he could inform on them. That way, at least Mark himself could escape blame—just as that thought formed, Lena, still silently holding his hand, tightened her grip just slightly.

That faint pressure struck something in Mark’s chest, and Teresa spoke:

“If you don’t want to get stabbed, go home, chicken.”

A cute face twisted into a sneer, and Mark, unable to back down now, shouted back:

“I’m not a chicken! I’m coming! With all of you!”

“…Whatever.”

Teresa’s interest evaporated instantly, and she lowered the dagger. But she didn’t sheathe it.

“Then for real—if you get in my way, you’ll get stabbed.”

“Y-Yeah, got it.”

Mark swallowed hard at the sight of the bare blade and nodded, resolving that having come this far, he’d see it through to the end. He told himself it was because he couldn’t abandon the others—while burying the truth that he had simply been provoked and wanted to go along with them.

Watching it all unfold, the guardian murmured with something like sympathy: “Well, that settles it—you’re definitely getting a lecture too.”

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 338

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight: Traditional Trial 2

“Don’t go after the children and drag them back, okay?”

Karen held back Harald, Ottilie, and Lily—all of whom looked ready to go apprehend the children at that very moment—then turned to Sara, who had brought her the news.

“If they slipped past the guards, does that mean there’s a gap in the security somewhere?”

The earl’s residence in the territorial capital was enormous. To begin with, the grounds themselves were vast. There was a wall surrounding it, but it wasn’t impossible to climb over. Taking that into account, soldiers conducted patrols and maintained watch across the grounds.

Karen was thinking she should let Helfried know if there was a gap in security—and then Sara shook her head.

“It appears they simply walked out through the front gate.”

“The gate? There are gatekeepers at the gate, aren’t there?”

Karen’s eyes went wide. If anything, that was the most heavily guarded point of entry. And the gatekeepers naturally knew that Karen was sheltering magicless children in the annex. So if unfamiliar children tried to leave, they should have stopped them as a matter of course.

“It seems Teresa left through the gate with a cart, claiming she was carrying goods that you entrusted to her, Lady Karen.”

“…She borrowed a cart and packed Lena, Michael, and Mark inside it. That’s clever.”

“Rather than clever, I believe the right word for this is devious.”

Sara shook her head and sighed as if to say, “Good grief.”

“According to the gatekeepers, Teresa looked to be struggling terribly with the weight.”

Karen burst out laughing at the image of Teresa hauling a cart with a desperate expression.

Teresa had apparently used her status as Karen’s sponsored adventurer to her advantage. The people in this household respected Karen and kept track of her affairs. Many of them knew Karen had taken Teresa on as her sponsor, so a large load of luggage with Teresa wouldn’t have seemed strange.

“What would you like to do from here?”

“Keep watching over them, and let’s see what they’re planning to do.”

Karen had decided to watch and wait, while remaining prepared for whatever might happen. Ottilie stepped forward.

“Please leave any punishment for the children to me when they return. Anyone else might go easy on them out of consideration for my brother’s standing. I assure you I will show no such leniency.”

“No, please leave the punishment to me. They caused a scene in front of Lady Karen—I will not go easy on anyone, noble’s sibling or prince alike.”

“And yet, the difference in rank is precisely what tends to soften one’s hand, isn’t it? You may leave it to me, Harald.”

“Rather than worrying that I’ll go easy on them, you should be worried that I’ll go too far. Or is it that you want the right to punish them because you wish to protect your dear little brother from me, Lady Ottilie?”

Two very formidable individuals arguing over who had the right to punish the children was likely to be quite the trial for those children in itself.

Mark had left some evidence of trying to stop them, but since he’d ultimately gone along with Teresa anyway, a reduced sentence might be difficult to justify.

Now that she thought about it, Teresa had a talent for sweeping people around her into trouble. Even the children who had thrown stones alongside Teresa when they first met seemed, aside from Teresa herself, to have been swept up by her influence.

To drive people toward throwing stones at a noble—something even a child could recognize as clearly wrong—that was the talent of an agitator. One wrong step and she was headed straight for serious crime. Fortunately, Karen held the perfect bait for Teresa in the form of Thor. She would have to reel Teresa in carefully and steer her toward something good.

“Punishment may be unavoidable, but please go easy on them. They’re just poor children, starved of love, doing the only thing they knew how to do.”

Lily said it on her behalf, and Karen gratefully closed her mouth on what she’d been about to say. Up until now, Karen had been the only one holding back the people who tended to go too far, and it had been exhausting.

Things looked like they might get easier from here.

“I’ve made sure the children have protection, so let’s keep watch for now without interfering. Lily, please take care of the children who stayed behind so they don’t get anxious. Harald, coordinate with Lily and keep an eye on them.”

“Understood.”

“Of course.”

Karen saw Harald and Lily off as they returned to their respective duties, then glanced at Ottilie, who had remained. Ottilie’s face was drawn with worry. She had offered everything she had to Karen for her brother’s sake, and her brother had effectively thrown it all away—it was understandable that she would look this way.

Karen gave a wry smile and apologized:

“Please don’t take it too hard, Ottilie. If anything, I’m the one who owes you an apology.”

“Why should you be apologizing, Lady Karen?”

“I could have stopped them before they left. But I chose not to. You would have wanted to stop your brother and give him a proper scolding before he ever walked out that gate. And I prevented that.”

“…Even so, it was Michael himself who chose to disregard your kindness.”

Karen had little intention of reproaching the children for what they’d done. But for Ottilie, Michael’s own mindset was what troubled her. Nothing Karen said at this point would put Ottilie’s feelings at ease.

“That said, I am curious as to why you chose to let it happen. If your intention was simply to allow the children to do as they pleased until they felt better, I think that would be far too indulgent.”

“I wanted to try everything that might have a chance.”

“— A chance, you say?”

“The royal children of the Kingdom of Earthfill are said to face trials without knowing it, watched over in secret, and to climb in standing through those trials, correct? Nobles are much the same. In the same way, perhaps magicless children might also have an opportunity to rise.”

“As for that… Michael has already been put to the test, and since he has no magical power, there was little effect, I’m afraid.”

“Even so—these children chose to face a trial of their own will. Doesn’t that deserve our support?”

Waltride had been forced into a trial, and it had left a scar. Karen had no intention of putting unwilling children through one either. But these children had chosen to face it themselves. It would likely be a trial far crueler and more harrowing than facing monsters.

“I intend to honor their courage greatly, and to watch over them right up to the very edge of what they can bear. If it looks like too much, of course I’ll step in.”

Karen said it with a smile, then turned to look at the blue sky spreading outside the window.

“…I’m sure the goddess is watching over all of them.”

When Karen murmured it, Ottilie thought she caught a flash of rainbow light like an auspicious cloud reflected in those sky-blue eyes—and swallowed every question, every word she had left.

Without saying a word, she lowered her head and walked a step behind Karen silently.

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 337

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven: Traditional Trial

“—It says, ‘I’ll do my best to hold them back, so please stop everyone.’”

Karen looked up from Mark’s note. Harald and Ottilie instantly bowed their heads with solemn expressions.

Harald’s bow had grown more refined in the time since Karen had last seen him do it. He was probably receiving etiquette instruction when Karen wasn’t around. Being within the earl’s residence, there would be no shortage of opportunities for that.

“I should have anticipated that Teresa would cause trouble and taken precautions. This is my responsibility as a supervisor.”

“Lady Karen, please allow me to apologize as well… my brother has acted without permission. I am deeply sorry.”

Harald and Ottilie hung their heads. Behind them, Lily was desperately fighting back tears, her eyes already red.

“Were you not in the annex, Mrs. Lily?”

“I had gone to feed Cyril… I knew I shouldn’t take my eyes off Lena, and I’m so sorry.”

“There just wasn’t enough time yet for your love to reach her.”

Karen nodded and looked back down at the letter.

When Karen had found the note on Mark’s bed, she had immediately called Harald and Lily to the alchemy workshop manor. Harald had apparently been in the annex and hadn’t noticed, and Lily had been absent.

“Little Karen, we have to go get them quickly…! Even for a normal child, the outside world is dangerous—a child without magical power wouldn’t last a moment!”

“Normal children and children without magical power, is it?”

Karen paused briefly at Lily’s frantic words, then let her in on the truth:

“The children will be fine. I actually heard the whole thing, so I’ve been handling it. They were discussing it at quite a volume, after all.”

Having a large amount of magical power enhanced the senses. Karen had been able to hear the escaped children’s conversation. It had also been Teresa’s very first lesson since she’d come, saying she wanted to learn to read and write, so if anything, Karen had been keeping her attention directed that way from the start. She had been fairly sure Teresa would cause trouble.

And sure enough, Teresa had made her move, pulling Michael and Mark in with her. The triggering incident was Lena, to be sure—Karen had missed patches of the conversation here and there, but Teresa’s clear voice had carried throughout the entire conversation.

Karen’s discovery of Mark’s letter hadn’t been a coincidence either. Realizing that Mark was actually writing a note when he said he needed time to get ready, she went to retrieve it.

Lily spoke with visible relief:

“So someone has already gone to fetch them?”

“Well, actually—I haven’t sent anyone.”

“So you deliberately let them leave, Lady Karen? Indeed, children who will not follow your guidance are unnecessary. If someone chooses to leave of their own accord, there is no reason to stop them.”

Harald’s face lit up with a pleasant smile. Lily’s face went the color of ash. Karen looked at Harald with tired eyes.

“I’m not going to abandon her. If I abandoned Lena, the children who are following my lead right now would feel anxious too. If even Lena isn’t cast out, then they won’t be either—I’m sure there are quite a few children who draw comfort from that.”

“If even Lena receives such favorable treatment, some children may think there’s no need for them to make an effort either… It sets a bad example.”

“The children losing faith in me would be a bigger problem, so I won’t abandon Lena. Still, I can’t ignore the negative influence you mentioned, so I’ll think about it.”

“…Indeed, to lose the faith would be unacceptable.”

Karen had the distinct feeling something had gotten lost in translation, but let it pass and looked back down at the letter.

“I wanted to see what the children would do, so I let them go without stopping them. And then Mark left a letter for me. Still, putting Harald aside, they couldn’t even ask anyone from the estate for help, huh? I suppose approaching servants from a noble household would be intimidating…”

“What do you mean, ‘putting me aside’?”

“Because they assumed you’d just smile and tell them, exactly as you said earlier, that if they wanted to leave, you wouldn’t stop them.”

Even if Mark had gone to Harald asking him to stop everyone—would Harald have actually stopped them? He might have stopped Michael for Ottilie’s sake, but there was every chance he’d have taken the opportunity to talk things around and send Lena away on her own.

Harald made a sheepish face. He was clearly well aware of it himself.

Karen gave him a flat look, though she couldn’t quite bring herself to be angry about it. Harald’s views, extreme as they were, leaned toward the general thinking of this world—and it was Karen and Lily who were the unusual ones.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

“Lady Karen, the situation has progressed.”

“Come in, Sara.”

Sara entered the reception room of the alchemy workshop manor, gave a bow, and spoke:

“A short while ago, the children left the estate.”

Harald, Lily, and Ottilie all blinked in surprise.

Karen had picked up Mark’s letter almost immediately after he had put it down. Which meant that, until just now, the children had not even left the grounds. Unaware that Karen had been watching over them all along, the children had only now, at this very moment, stepped outside the gates of the earl’s residence.

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 336

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Six: Secret Proposal

Lena was, in the end, smaller than Mark and the rest. She was quick, and Michael was slow on his feet, but the red-haired girl caught up to Lena in no time at all.

“No! Let go! I’m going home!”

The red-haired girl had Lena pinned to the ground with startling ease, thrashing and all. The whole sequence of movements had been remarkably polished. The fact that someone’s technique for pinning people down could be polished was a bit frightening when Mark thought about it, but he shook his head and pushed the thought aside for now.

The point was, Lena. They had drifted a little distance from the annex, but they were still within the earl’s residence grounds, and no one had spotted them yet. Mark looked around and let out a small breath of relief. If they got Lena back right away, no one would ever need to know.

“Your name’s Lena, right?”

“…? Who? Who are you?!”

Lena had apparently only just realized she didn’t recognize the girl pinning her down. She craned her tearful neck and glared up at the girl looming over her.

“I’m Teresa. Hey—when you say you’re going home, where exactly are you going?”

“Back to Mama and Papa!”

“But your mama and papa abandoned you, and that’s why you’re here. Don’t you get that?”

“Lena wasn’t abandoned!”

“You were abandoned. Even if you went back, they wouldn’t let you in, would they?”

“It’s because Lena didn’t take good care of her little sister. Lena will do better from now on. So they’ll let Lena in!”

Mark put the pieces together and frowned. Lena really was a pitiful child as well. And yet she was also extraordinarily fortunate.

Even without Harald having to spell it out, each of them understood this on their own. They studied and worked according to Karen’s wishes—and even so, it felt nowhere near enough to repay what they’d been given, to a frightening degree.

In this environment, Lena had been doing nothing but shutting herself away, refusing work and lessons alike. At times, she threw fits, cried, screamed, and even tried to break things. And yet she had been allowed to live exactly as the rest of them did. Recently, Lily had been spoiling her, making her even harder to manage.

The adults might have some plan in mind, but Mark had an uneasy feeling that if Lena’s attitude wasn’t corrected soon, things were going to end badly for Lena herself.

As far as Mark could tell, Karen was not a problem. She did not seem angry at all about Lena’s selfishness. Harald was furious, but Karen’s wishes took absolute priority, so that side of things was fine too.

The problem was that the other children were starting to resent Lena. At this rate, as blessed as this place was, Lena would end up with nowhere left in it.

“You’ve got it wrong. You were thrown away because you weren’t wanted. If anything, you might get killed if you went back, you know?”

“That’s not true!”

Teresa’s malicious grin and the cruelty of her words made Lena shriek and burst into tears. Mark didn’t particularly like Lena. Even so, watching someone talk to her like this, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

“So your name is Teresa. Thanks for catching her. We’ll take her back from here—”

“She’s my prey. I’m not giving her up.”

Teresa rejected Mark’s offer.

“P-Prey?”

“I’ll be the one to take you home.”

The red-haired girl—Teresa—whispered it in Lena’s ear, and Lena, who had been struggling and flailing, went completely still.

“I’m an adventurer. Unlike you lot, I can move around freely. So I’ll take you home.”

“T-There’s no way Lady Karen would allow that—”

“Who cares whether Karen allows it or not?”

“Don’t you owe Lady Karen your life too!?”

“I’m not like you lot.”

Teresa dismissed Mark’s words with cool arrogance.

“I can survive on my own. I might die doing it, but until I do, I’m living my life on my own terms. I’m nothing like you cowards who can’t even breathe without someone’s help… but…”

Teresa looked down at Lena and grinned.

“You’re not a coward. No magical power, and you’re still trying to break out of this place that might as well be a goddess’s garden. That takes guts.”

“She doesn’t have guts. She just doesn’t understand anything, Teresa!”

“I’ve been meaning to say—stop calling me by my name like we’re friends.”

“Ugh… Michael, can you say something?!”

Mark appealed to Michael, who had been unusually and persistently silent this whole time. Michael raised his downcast face and spoke:

“…Maybe it’s okay to let Lena go back, as Little Teresa says.”

“Michael!? What are you saying?”

“Because if we drag her back now, Lena’s just going to do the same thing again.”

“But…!”

“Next time Lena tries to sneak out, maybe none of us will notice in time. If that’s going to happen anyway… why don’t we take Lena to her parents ourselves?”

Mark knew well enough that hauling Lena back by force when she hadn’t come to terms with anything would only be a short-term fix. Before Mark could find a response, Teresa spoke up sharply:

“Huh? Why are you acting like you’re coming too? You’d just be in the way.”

“Because I’m worried. About Lena, and about you, Little Teresa.”

“Drop the ‘Little’. Why am I the only one you’re calling that?”

“Because Little Teresa just feels like a Little Teresa!”

“So. Annoying.”

Distracted by the ‘Little,’ Teresa apparently forgot to object to Michael using her name at all—even though she had complained about Mark doing it.

“Mark, you don’t have to come. Could you tell Lady Karen later that we’re taking Lena home?”

“If you’re going to tell her, do it tomorrow. It’ll be a hassle if she tries to stop us.”

“…I’m coming too! I’m not leaving Lena and Michael with someone I don’t even know!”

Whether Lena accepted how things had turned out or not, she remained silent, her pale face completely devoid of emotion.

After somehow persuading Teresa not to drag Lena away immediately, Mark scribbled a letter in the handwriting he had only recently learned and left it in the bedroom. When he got back, he found Michael clinging to Teresa to stop her from leaving without them, and getting kicked repeatedly for it. Mark hurried to pull them apart.

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 335

Previous chapter Index Next chapter

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Five: Lesson of First Encounters

“Hello! You’re someone I haven’t seen before, aren’t you? I’m—”

“Hah?”

“Eeep.”

The girl fixed him with a fierce glare, and Michael’s eyes went watery. Mark, who had been watching from the side, hurried to step between them.

Everyone had noticed the unfamiliar girl sitting in on the morning lesson. Since Harald hadn’t said anything about her presence, it was clear she had permission to be there—but he hadn’t introduced her either, and everyone was curious.

She had looked like just an ordinary cute girl while the lesson was going on. But Michael, who had been the first to approach her, had been magnificently rebuffed.

“Michael was only trying to say hello. That kind of attitude isn’t really okay, is it?”

“Annoying.”

The girl cut down Mark’s carefully measured, gentle rebuke in a single stroke.

“I’m only here to learn to read and write. Don’t talk to me.”

With that, she turned away. She was a girl with vivid red hair and red eyes. Her features were pretty, but her upturned eyes carried sharpness to them, and the sullen twist of her mouth inspired a reflexive unease.

But she was still smaller than Mark. Steeling himself, Mark issued a warning:

“Are you from outside? You might not know, but Michael is a noble. His sister has high magical power too. You should drop that attitude.”

“Like I’m scared of a noble.”

The girl laughed off Mark’s well-meaning words with contempt.

“I’m not scared of anything.”

She laughed, those burning red eyes alight. It looked almost as if she was mocking Mark for being afraid, and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“So why did you come to learn to read and write?”

Michael, undeterred, asked again in Mark’s place as he stood at a loss for words.

“Noisy.”

“Hehe, people say that a lot.”

“Huh? Why are you acting shy about it?”

The girl’s expression turned slightly unsettled, but remarkably, Michael no longer flinched at it.

“Teacher Harald’s lessons aren’t open to just anyone, are they? Are you connected to the Ehlertt’s household? Or do you know Lady Karen?”

“What reason do I have to tell you?”

“Awww. But I really wanna knooow!”

Michael kept talking, laughing, going teary-eyed, squirming—a one-man performance. Mark had already been thoroughly defeated, but Michael had an extraordinary resilience.

“I don’t have magical power, but I’m a noble, so I’ve learned to read and write—maybe there’s something I can help you with!”

“…For real?”

Being born a noble apparently meant being raised with some degree of care, even without magical power. He had a beautiful, devoted sister watching over him. On top of that, he had even managed to catch the attention of the red-haired girl.

Mark felt envious, but he lowered his head because he did not want anyone to realize it.

The red-haired girl hesitated, then opened her mouth:

“…Do you know how to write a letter? A proper one.”

“What kind of letter do you want to write? A seasonal greeting? A letter of condolence? Or a letter of thanks?”

“A thank-you… I want to say thank you. To a high-ranking adventurer.”

The girl mumbled it out. The clumsy way she was trying to hide her embarrassment was almost endearing. But pointing that out would obviously invite terrible consequences. Mark pressed his lips together to keep himself from saying anything foolish.

“Oh, you’re being all shy, that’s so cu—guugh.”

Michael said an unnecessary thing and took a palm strike to the chin, tumbling backward. From the second roll onward, it looked like he was rolling on purpose, but Mark helped Michael back to his feet anyway.

“You’re gross, so forget it. Go away.”

When the girl snapped it out like that, there was something about it that made Mark feel he had no choice but to comply. His own spirit was already quite crushed. And yet Michael was writhing around, going "Noooooo" without a shred of repentance.

The last thing Mark wanted to do was envy that, and so he found he stopped envying Michael at all.

His first meeting with Michael had been something like this too—Michael stood out from the others, and Mark had somehow ended up looking out for him, and before he knew it, they had grown close. He’d been quite surprised when he later found out Michael was a noble.

“Hey, what’s that?”

One moment she was trying to find out about letter-writing, then ordering people away, and now asking questions—Mark was quietly irritated by the imperious girl, but he looked where she was looking out the window, and his eyes went wide.

“Lena!?”

“Isn’t that kid trying to sneak out of the annex? You all need permission to leave from here, right? I can come and go as I please, though.”

Outside the window, Lena was unmistakably trying not to be seen. She had ducked her small body headfirst into a hedge and then disappeared entirely from view. Mark half-rose from his chair.

“She wouldn’t be trying to go back to Viscount Bell’s territory… would she…?”

“Go back? You don’t have anywhere to go back to, do you?”

Mark knew better than anyone what it meant to have nowhere to go back to. Everyone here knew it. Even so, wasn’t it a matter of basic decency not to say it out loud?

Mark turned to say something to the girl about her unpleasant way of putting things—and froze.

He found himself looking into the girl’s eyes, which were gleaming like a cat that had spotted its prey. Those red eyes were frightening, and yet the lips that had been twisted in a sulk just moments ago had spread into a wide, blooming smile—and that smiling face was, strangely, quite beautiful.

Beautiful, but a frightening smile. It gave the distinct impression that he was about to be toyed with and torn to shreds for her amusement.

Mark stood frozen like a mouse under a cat’s gaze, and at that moment, Michael bolted out of the room. For some reason, the girl charged after him, and Mark ended up following along behind the two of them.

Previous chapter Index Next chapter