Chapter Thirty-four: Party Invitation
“Thank you for your help, Master Julius!”
“I’m glad I could help you, Karen.”
“But, um, while I felt really great about it, are you sure you’re okay? Won’t this start strange rumors?”
Earlier, Karen had gotten carried away with Julius’s act, caught up in the thrilling scenario of being pursued by the kingdom’s most handsome man. But was it really alright for Julius to have rumors spreading about him pursuing a mere F-rank alchemist like Karen?
Surely it wasn’t good at all.
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
Julius dismissed it casually. He genuinely didn’t seem concerned. Come to think of it, Karen remembered hearing many romantic rumors about Julius before. Perhaps this would just blend in with all the others—something trivial to him.
While Karen remained wary, expecting this to become new material for teasing, Julius quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, there’s been an issue regarding the request you completed recently.”
Karen gulped at Julius’s serious tone.
She had a slight suspicion about what it might be.
“The reward I received is too valuable to keep at home, so I deposited it at the Alchemists’ Guild… Is there a problem with that…?”
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong, so don’t worry.”
Julius smiled warmly.
It wasn’t about the appraisal mirror, apparently. Karen breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, she had taken the appraisal mirror to the Alchemists’ Guild for evaluation right after receiving it. She couldn’t exactly ask the Ehlertt family about its rarity level, but she was very curious about it.
To determine a magical item’s rarity, one needed to use an appraisal mirror. An appraisal mirror could only evaluate items of equal or lesser rarity. Therefore, all other magical items were ranked based on appraisal mirrors.
When Natalia examined the appraisal mirror Karen had received from the Ehlertt family—originally Julius’s—it couldn’t be appraised by the guild’s mirror. Yet Karen’s mirror could appraise the guild’s mirror.
The highest-grade appraisal mirror owned by the Alchemists’ Guild was Double Rare.
Karen’s excitement at realizing her mirror might be Legendary grade was short-lived. Apparently, there were magical items between Double Rare and Legendary that hadn’t been discovered yet.
While commoner schools taught that there were five grades—Common, Uncommon, Rare, Double Rare, and Legendary—there were supposedly several undiscovered grades between Double Rare and Legendary.
The Legendary grade was truly mythical, referring to theoretical "perfect magical items." Items commonly called Legendary were just provisionally named so because they were the highest-grade items known to exist. They might actually be Triple Rare or Fourth Rare.
The performance of magical items depends on the goddess’s will, and rarity grades were arbitrarily assigned by humans. Even items currently considered Legendary could be downgraded if better items appeared.
This was information from Natalia that normally wouldn’t be available to F-rank alchemists, but was shared because Karen had acquired a Double Rare or higher appraisal mirror.
This was all new to Karen, who only had commoner school knowledge. So she wasn’t sure if her mirror was truly Legendary. But it was at least Triple Rare. Karen had somehow obtained the best-confirmed appraisal mirror in the country.
Of course, there might be others secretly keeping such items without reporting them to the country. Either way, she couldn’t keep something like this at home, so she left it with the Alchemists’ Guild after the appraisal.
While she had panicked thinking the Ehlertt family might demand its return, that didn’t seem to be the issue.
“Actually, word has gotten out about the reward you requested for completing the Ehlertt family’s request.”
“Ah…”
Karen’s requested reward had been marriage to Julius. She awkwardly averted her eyes. She wondered how it had leaked. While the Alchemists’ Guild maintained strict confidentiality, Karen might have been the source. She remembered getting excited with Natalia at a tavern about accepting Julius’s request.
Knowing she could ask for any reward, she had gotten carried away with the idea of requesting marriage to Julius. While this wasn’t technically a confidentiality breach since it happened before accepting the request, Karen broke into a cold sweat from guilt. Though Julius said she hadn’t done anything wrong, she found it hard to agree with him.
“Because of these rumors spreading, we’re facing some problems. There are rumors suggesting that you might be a fraudster.”
“A fraudster?”
Karen’s eyes widened at the familiar term.
Come to think of it, someone in the crowd earlier had called her a fraudster.
“They’re saying you might have performed minimal treatment under the pretense of healing, then claimed credit when Sieg happened to survive…”
“That’s what anyone would think, isn’t it?”
This was a flaw Karen had realized the day after accepting the request. Of course, anyone would think that.
“You’re a benefactor to the Ehlertt family. We can’t let these fraudster accusations continue.”
Saying this, Julius pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Karen.
“We’re holding a party to celebrate Sieg’s recovery. This is an invitation from Sieg. We’d love for you to attend.”
“Thank you! I’ll surely come!”
Karen happily accepted the invitation.
Looking at the expensive-looking paper envelope and elaborate wax seal, she belatedly realized she’d been invited to a noble’s party.
“We plan to introduce you as the Ehlertt family’s great benefactor, so prepare accordingly. As the guest of honor, you’ll also share the first dance with Sieg.”
“Wait a minute. I can’t dance!”
“Didn’t you have dance classes in commoner school?”
“That was three years ago! It’s ancient history!”
“Either way, you should come practice dancing. Sieg needs to relearn too. You two can practice together.”
It seemed Karen’s dancing was already decided. While she wasn’t confident in her dancing ability, perhaps having her—who was clearly less capable than the main star, Sieg—as his partner was a clever way to highlight his performance.
“So I’m meant to make Master Sieg look good… I’ll do my best!”
“You can take it easy and just enjoy yourself. After all, you’re an important person to us.”
Not to “me,” but to “us.” She couldn’t afford to misunderstand that. Karen reminded herself of this as she maintained her poker face while trying to calm her racing heart at Julius’s choice of words.
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