Alchemist Karen No Longer Compromises, Chapter 2

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Chapter Two: A Toast to New Beginnings

“This world’s values are wrong!”

Karen spat out these words and downed her ale in one go. It was an awful beer. Although this world had no age restrictions on drinking, Karen had been conscientiously abstaining until now.

But today of all days, she couldn’t help but drink. At eighteen, Karen grimaced at her first taste of ale. It was incredibly bad.

Bad as it was, she couldn’t cope without drinking.

“You don’t think you might be the one who’s wrong, Karen?”

“Are you on their side too, Natalia?”

“I’m on your side. But I can understand Mr. Lyos and Ms. Marian’s position too.”

Natalia, Karen’s friend who was stirring a bowl of bean soup across from her, said that. They’d been friends since public school. An elite working as a receptionist at the Alchemist Guild, Natalia had been cornered by Karen after work to listen to her complaints.

If even Natalia was like this… If it wasn’t this world’s common sense that was twisted, then what was it?

“Mr. Lyos became a knight, right? It wouldn’t be fitting for someone like that to marry an F-rank alchemist. Everyone thought you’d be the one to break off the engagement.”

“After I helped him, to care about status…”

“Are you serious about that?”

When Natalia questioned her with a skeptical look, Karen confessed that she hadn’t researched it to make sure of that.

“But I believe I cured Lyos’s illness. Though I haven’t confirmed it, so keep it between us.”

“If you found a cure for the side effects of the Bloodline Blessing, that would be a major discovery. Nobles are all troubled by the Blessing to some extent. Not just nobles either. High-rank adventurers too.”

The Bloodline Blessing.

It was this world’s affliction, primarily affecting nobles. When someone defeats monsters, they can absorb their power. Karen interpreted it as something like experience points. And after absorbing a certain amount of experience, one levels up. The body strengthens, and magical power increases. This power gained through leveling up is passed down to descendants. However, when immature vessels inherit power beyond their capacity, the vessel breaks. It was said that this was also the case for Lyos.

His mother was from the Viscount Filk family, and when those traits were inherited by Lyos, his body nearly broke from excessive magical power. If the body’s growth could catch up to the inherited magical power, one’s life could be saved. After many close calls with death, Lyos finally caught up in growth and survived.

“I haven’t researched it at all, so I have no proof.”

Karen repeated.

Claiming to be able to make a potion without any samples or research papers was quite reckless for an alchemist. At today’s party, she had blurted out that she was the one who had cured Lyos. She shouldn’t have said it without verification.

“I believe you, Karen. Ever since I first saw your alchemy, I knew you’d become an amazing alchemist someday.”

Karen smiled wryly.

Public school lets commoners try various things to discover their talents. Alchemy was one of them, and on the day of that class, only Karen and one other student in their year succeeded in creating a potion. The other student had an alchemist parent and already knew about alchemy.

Not just alchemy, but magic in general worked through "magical power" and "understanding." However, back then, Karen was a complete novice, with zero “understanding.” Yet because she used less magical power than the other student, there was a brief period where people said she might be the school’s most talented alchemist in history.

Seven years later, remaining perpetually F-rank without the slightest improvement, that past glory had long been forgotten. A child prodigy at ten, talented at fifteen, just ordinary past twenty—that’s how it goes.

Although Karen was still eighteen, even Natalia must have forgotten about it by now.

“You’re just trying to make me feel better.”

“Oh? I became a member of the Alchemist Guild because you said you’d become an alchemist, you know?”

“Huh? What’s that about? This is the first time I’ve heard this!”

“Well, I’ve never mentioned it before.”

With a "Cheers," Natalia handed Karen a drink, and Karen lost her chance to ask for more.

“If you had such research material, why were you doing Lyos’s chores? You could have hired someone for that.”

“Isn’t it natural that as Lyos’s fiancée, I wanted to do everything I could for him?”

“Karen, you’re kind, or rather devoted… or maybe just too lenient. That’s why men get overly confident and leave you.”

“Ugh.”

She couldn’t argue back since she’d been dumped in similar circumstances in her previous life.

“Looking back, I guess I had my faults too. I was too lenient in the sense that I compromised in choosing my partner. So I thought I didn’t need to put in much effort; I was taking things for granted.”

In her previous life, she’d let her guard down thinking a man with such looks wouldn’t cheat, and in this life, she’d misunderstood that her partner must love her after all she’d done for him.

“This time, I won’t compromise! I’ll find the most amazing man, someone who makes me feel I need to keep growing as a person!”

“That’s the spirit, Karen!”

Karen and Natalia toasted many times—to their dreams, their future, and their eventual marriages.

Completely drunk, Karen asked:

“What kind of person do you want to marry, Nataliaaaa?”

“Someone who’s content to support meee. I want to keep working foreverrr.”

“Yeah, that kind of person would suit you, Nataliaaaa.”

“What about youuu, Karen? You won’t compromise, rightt?”

“Of course, if I’m aiming, it’s for the tooop!”

Karen and Natalia bar-hopped together. Until now, Karen never had time for something like this—it was her first time drinking like this.

The next morning.

Karen somehow made it home, and by her pillow was a quest acceptance certificate.

The client was Julius Ehlertt.

He was the famously handsome younger brother of the Earl of Ehlertt, winner of last year’s swordsmanship tournament. He was highly favored by the king, and this spring he had conquered the dungeon in Ehlertt’s main city, making him currently the most brilliant heroic figure—the capital’s most eligible bachelor. Proudly ranked first on the "Most Wanted to Marry" list. Karen had gone to watch last year’s swordsmanship tournament and had squealed with excitement at Julius’s performance. By the way, Lyos had lost in the second round and was extremely sulky about it.

The request was to ease his nephew Sieg’s Bloodline Blessing and help him survive past age ten. The method was unrestricted, and the reward was negotiable.

This request had been posted for over three years, not just at the Alchemist Guild, but everywhere—the Adventurer’s Guild, the Merchant’s Guild, and so on. Back then, the client wasn’t Julius but his older brother, the current Earl of Ehlertt, who was the child’s father.

But after Julius won the swordsmanship tournament, they probably changed the client name to attract more attention. Since the news of his dungeon conquest, the request had gained even more attention. Yet still, no word of the request being fulfilled had been heard.

Karen had apparently accepted this request while drunk. Moreover, in the remarks section, she had written in large, emboldened letters fueled by drunken momentum: “I wish to marry Lord Julius as my reward!" She knew that because she had a copy of the contract.

Karen let out a scream.

The Translator's Corner

What's the moral? Again, don't drink!

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