Chapter Fourty-five: Persuasion
“You should have sent her away. Why did you let her in, Karen?”
“That’s right, Lady Karen. She’s not someone who should be at a celebration.”
Natalia was well-informed, but Sara was quite knowledgeable, too. Before Karen could introduce Marian, they had already recognized her face and looked at her coldly. Usually, Marian wouldn’t stay quiet after such comments, but today she remained silent with a stern expression.
“I’m sorry, both of you. But I have something I need to ask Marian.”
Karen closed the entrance door and turned to face the silent Marian.
“What’s the matter…? Is it about Lyos? Were you alright that night?”
On the day of the recovery celebration at the Ehlertt estate, Marian and Lyos had a dispute. If Karen’s eyes hadn’t deceived her, it looked like Lyos had been trying to choke Marian.
Glancing at Marian’s neck, she saw no traces of injury and breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing Karen’s reaction, Marian’s face twisted.
“You’re still as naive as ever. That’s why both your soap and Lyos were taken from you.”
“Ugh…”
“It’s precisely because Lady Karen is this kind of person that so many want to help her.”
Sara stepped forward and spoke as Karen struggled to respond. Marian’s face tensed up when she saw Sara.
“You’re… from the House of Ehlertt?”
“Yes, I am Sara, a messenger sent by the Ehlertt family.”
It seemed Sara had come to Karen’s place on behalf of the Ehlertt Earldom. As Karen tilted her head wondering what business it could be, Marian looked at her with a desperate expression.
“Karen, I know I wronged you. I’m apologizing, so won’t you forgive me?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Everything, of course!”
“Is that how one should apologize to others?”
Natalia commented wearily from her seated position.
Sara shook her head as well.
“Lady Karen, there’s no need to listen. She’s only clinging to you because the Ehlertt family is putting pressure on the Gubert Company.”
“Ms. Sara? What pressure?”
“Just Sara, please.”
“This is unreasonable!!”
Though Karen had many things she wanted to say to Sara, seeing Marian grinding her teeth, she decided to focus on the key point.
“Seriously, Sara! So what’s this pressure about?”
“The Gubert Company stole the soap recipe you invented, Lady Karen. The Ehlertt family, having accepted you as one of their own, cannot allow this. I visited you today to inform you of our stance on the matter.”
“You should have issued a warning first, then made your demands! Applying pressure out of nowhere is too much!”
“Lady Karen must have felt the same way when her recipe was suddenly stolen.”
Marian, red-faced, rummaged through her shoulder bag. She pulled out a bundle of papers tied with string and thrust them toward Karen.
“Karen! Please read this!”
“Lady Karen, there’s no need to look.”
“That’s right, Karen. It’s probably just written to gain your sympathy. You’ll only worry needlessly.”
“I’ll at least take a look.”
Despite Sara and Natalia’s protests, Karen accepted the papers from Marian, only to find they contained a list of numbers.
“Let’s see…”
“I’ll explain… Please let me explain! Those numbers show the survival rates of adventurers injured in dungeons over the past ten years!”
“How do you have such information? This kind of data should only be available through the Adventurers’ Guild.”
When Natalia spoke suspiciously, Marian glared at her and said:
“The Gubert Company can get this information. The improved survival rates, especially among novice adventurers, are thanks to our—no, thanks to the soap!”
“Oh, is that so?”
Karen looked down at the numbers with interest. Though they were difficult to read, now that she knew what they represented, she could see they were categorized by types and severity of injuries, showing whether the injured adventurers had survived.
“Karen, when you first created the soap for Lyos, you said it yourself. That washing with soap removes harmful things that make people sick… That’s why when we started selling soap to adventurers, more injured people survived.”
Following the numbers, around eight years ago—probably when Marian had started selling Karen’s soap recipe as a Gubert Company product—the survival rate of adventurers began to improve. The survival rate of lower-ranked adventurers, in particular, showed remarkable growth.
“Thanks to the soap, Karen, some adventurers can survive even without potions. If we stop selling soap, adventurers who could have been saved won’t make it! So please, stop the House of Ehlertt! Make them stop pressuring our distribution network. Let us keep selling soap as we have been. Of course, I’ll apologize! You can do that, right? Karen?”
“That’s out of the question, Lady Karen. The Gubert Company doesn’t need to be the one selling it. If you are concerned about the adventurers, we can have another company that deals with the Ehlertt family produce it.”
Sara coldly declared, ignoring Marian’s desperate pleas.
“Karen, knowing how kind you are, you’re probably feeling sympathetic toward Marian. But don’t forget that showing leniency to someone who stole your recipe would be disrespectful to everyone who has dealt with you honestly.”
Karen nodded at Natalia’s words.
“You’re right, Natalia.”
“Karen…!”
Marian gazed at Karen desperately. Looking down at Marian, Karen spoke:
“I can’t be lenient with you, who took from me unilaterally, because it would disrespect the sincerity of all the other people who are kind to me. So, I’ll have to be strict.”
“…Yes, that’s… normal.”
Marian sank to the floor and hung her head. Karen squatted in front of her and peered at her face.
“So, will you tell me about your deceased older brother?”
“!”
Marian raised her head sharply. Whether from sadness or anger, she stared at Karen, making an inarticulate sound. Karen spoke to the fixedly staring Marian:
“You’re so committed to working for adventurers because of your adventurer brother who died when I was around nine, right? Tell me about him. I’m sure it’s really painful for you, but I’m going to be strict about this.”
“…How did you know about Brother Johan? Even at home, no one talks about him anymore.”
Marian spoke in a hoarse voice. Even just saying his name seemed extremely difficult for her.
“I heard adults talking about it normally around when he passed away. So I’ve known ever since I first met you at Lyos’s house.”
Marian had been brought to one of Frieda’s frequent home gatherings by some of her relatives, regardless of her own wishes. They probably thought it would help cheer her up. Karen had heard from adults’ hushed gossip about the girl who was depressed after losing her eldest brother.
That’s why Karen had gone through considerable trouble mediating between her and Lyos, who was agitated due to his Bloodline Blessing. Making soap was partly to ease the tension in that situation.
Karen stood up and made tea. She was careful not to let it turn into a potion.
“Sit down, Marian. You’ll have to tell me everything. If you want to keep working for adventurers, if you want to continue making and selling soap, you’ll need to convince me.”
Karen would need to show that she was convinced by Marian’s story to persuade Natalia and especially Sara. If she made a potion to calm Marian down, Marian’s true feelings wouldn’t come through completely.
Marian, pale and trembling, sat down in the chair at Karen’s urging. She remained looking down. Karen thought for a moment that she might give up everything and leave without speaking, but after taking a sip of the tea Karen had served, Marian began to speak in a trembling voice.
Nooo, not the redemption arc
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