Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty: Supporter Interview
“Karen, I’ve brought you a couple of adventurers who want to be your supporters! Go ahead and interview them.”
Natalia, who came to Karen’s alchemy workshop, had brought two adventurers with her.
“I’m Sepl, a D-rank adventurer!”
“I’m Urte, a C-rank adventurer.”
“What!? You’re both hired!”
“I know you’re acquainted with them, but that’s too fast! Negotiate the conditions!”
Scolded by Natalia sitting beside her, Karen withdrew her hiring decision and faced the two adventurers in the reception room. She had the two sit on the sofa while Karen settled herself on the opposite side.
“I’m a B-rank alchemist. Thank you for coming today for the interview to be my supporter.”
When Karen bowed her head politely, Sepl jumped up in his seat in a fluster.
“Wait, wait, wait. Weren’t you C-rank until just recently!?”
“Hehe! I haven’t announced it yet, but I ranked up. I thought I’d wait to say it publicly until after a supporter was decided.”
“…Yeah, that’s something you should announce after you’ve chosen your supporter.”
They hadn’t put out a general recruitment—Natalia had apparently approached the two directly, so it seemed she hadn’t mentioned Karen’s rank.
Watching Sepl sink back onto the sofa with a blank expression, Karen asked:
“Um, first, Uncle Sepl. Why did you decide to become a supporter? You should be doing pretty well as an adventurer, right?”
“Actually, I’m having a kid.”
“Whaat!? No way! When did you get married!? Who’s your partner!?”
“My partner is Lily, the poster girl at the Boa’s Nest. We got carried away drinking and, well, it happened. We’re not married yet, though… Hey, Little Karen! Don’t look at me like I’m trash!”
Shotgun marriage fueled by alcohol. The woman named Lily from the Boa’s Nest was older than Karen, but their ages shouldn’t have been that different.
It was doubtful they had even been properly dating, and they were not yet married.
Sepl showed a flustered expression at Karen, who was looking at him with disapproving eyes.
“Well… the order of things varies from person to person, but you’re going to do things properly from here on, right?”
“Yeah. That’s why I decided to stop trying to tackle the tenth floor after all. I’m getting old too, and I thought becoming a supporter wouldn’t be bad.”
“I see.”
Karen nodded. Karen’s father had gone missing beyond the tenth floor. Sepl would inevitably be conscious of that too. If he had a child on the way, stopping his pursuit of becoming a C-rank adventurer and living for his family was also a respectable choice.
“What about you, Ms. Urte?”
“As a supporter, it’s easier to go home, right? As you know, my husband is waiting at home. Besides, I heard that my husband’s condition might be curable with the potions you make.”
“Ah, right. He’s afflicted with poison, if I recall?”
“Yes. You can make panaceas, can’t you?”
“In that case—”
“Karen, no. You absolutely mustn’t say you’ll make it for free.”
Natalia, who had been sitting beside her, grabbed Karen’s arm as she was about to rise from the sofa and pulled her back.
“The guild member is right. Were you about to fetch a panacea just now?”
“I don’t have any in stock, so I was going to go make one… Ms. Urte, don’t you want a panacea?”
When Karen tilted her head, Urte swallowed hard, but eventually slowly shook her head.
“I want it so badly I could die. I want it, but I understand that I need to pay a fair price.”
“What about an advance on your salary?”
Receiving Karen’s proposal, Urte looked at her like she was a complete fool. When Urte looked at Natalia and Sepl as if seeking help, the two shrugged their shoulders in exasperation.
“Our Karen is this kind of girl. That’s why she needs supporters like you.”
“Right, right—Little Karen’s always been like this. So it’s up to us to stay sharp.”
“So that’s why you approached me, someone who owes this girl a debt.”
The three of them hit it off, leaving Karen behind.
After scratching her head vigorously, Urte glared at Karen with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t ever say something like that again. Idiots who would try to run off with advance payment would flock to become your supporter.”
“It’s not like I’d give a panacea in advance to just anyone—”
“Don’t ever say it again, got it?”
“Yes.”
Drawing a firm line, even though Urte desperately wanted a panacea, and being stared at intently by Natalia and Sepl as well, Karen decided to obediently nod.
After that, negotiations began regarding job duties, base salary, and allowances. Karen participated up to a certain point, but around when she tried to introduce a complete two-day weekend system, Natalia seized the negotiating rights, and Karen sat there vacantly.
“Karen, these are the employment terms, so check them and sign if there are no problems.”
“…Is it really okay to hire D-rank and C-rank adventurers at this price?”
Although she had heard about supporter salaries beforehand, she had thought that was for cases where the supporter’s rank was low. Yet both Sepl and Urte’s salaries, while Urte’s was slightly higher, weren’t that different.
“You’re not hiring them to work as adventurers. They’re strictly to perform supporter duties for an alchemist.”
“I see.”
“They chose the path of being supporters because they wanted work that was less burdensome than continuing as adventurers and had less danger to their lives. So keep that in mind too, Karen.”
“…Is being my supporter really less burdensome than continuing as an adventurer?”
“Hahaha! Little Karen, there’s no way guarding an alchemist is harder than diving into a dungeon.”
Sepl laughed, but Karen tilted her head with an "hmm.”
“But just recently I was opposed by an A-rank adventurer, and I’m probably also being watched by an organization called the Children of the Dark Night.”
It was believed that behind the dungeon incident involving Horst and various low-magical-power nobles from different territories stood an organization known as the “Children of the Dark Night.” Additionally, there should have been reports that First Consort Benedicta might also be involved, but she apparently continued to attend to the King’s side as before. Depending on how much information the organization had gathered, they likely knew at least that Karen was one of those who had foiled their plans.
“And the other day, I also picked a fight with some nobles.”
“Hey, hey, hey, what have you been doing?”
“Even though I say nobles, the ones I picked a fight with weren’t people in power or anything, just young ladies who made eyes at Mr. Julius and spoke ill of me! I’m probably, no, definitely resented!”
“Little Karen… if you’re planning to live with Master Julius, you’ll have to learn to navigate noble society properly.”
To Karen, who smiled wryly at the warning, Sepl continued:
“Whatever the case, it just proves you urgently need supporters.”
“Will you really become my supporter? It’s pretty dangerous, you know?”
“All the more reason to become one. You’re like a daughter to me.”
Sepl leaned forward across the desk and ruffled Karen’s head.
“I’ll protect you, so hire me.”
“…Thank you, Uncle Sepl.”
“Hire me too. Even if it’s dangerous, it still won’t be as bad as the trials the goddess imposes in the dungeon, right?”
“I’ve heard the goddess’s trials are utterly unreasonable.”
“Yes. Once you pass the tenth floor, the goddess’s trials explicitly try to push us to our limits. Compared to that, troubles between humans on the surface are more understandable.”
The dungeon was called the goddess’s trial ground and was said to test those who entered it.
Karen had recently come to feel herself that dealing with human conflicts was preferable to the incomprehensible unfairness of the goddess.
“I owe you a debt. Let me repay that favor.”
“Thank you too, Ms. Urte.”
“Besides, if you who can make panaceas were to die, we’d be in trouble!”
“Ahaha, fair point.”
These were the most excellent supporters Natalia could have possibly found.
From the beginning, Karen’s answer had been decided.
“Both of you, I look forward to working with you from now on!”
