Chapter Sixty-five: Heroes of the Elders’ Council
Having been scolded by Sara back then, Karen refrained from speaking in the carriage. Though face powder itself was poisonous, something else was mixed into it. What that might be, Karen had absolutely no idea.
“Karen, I’m sorry, but I need you to stay silent for a while.”
Julius, who had been watching the scenery through the carriage window, deliberately spoke to Karen, who had remained silent all this time. When Karen peeked out the same window, she saw an unfamiliar carriage with an emblem she didn’t recognize parked at the Ehlertt manor’s carriage stop.
“It seems nobles from the Elders’ Council of the Ehlertt Earldom have arrived. They’re aristocrats responsible for governing the territory, but they’re not necessarily allies of the Ehlertt family.”
“Understood.”
“Even if they throw unpleasant words at you.”
Karen nodded and kept her mouth shut.
As they stepped out of the carriage and entered the mansion, they happened to encounter unfamiliar nobles who were just about to leave. There were three of them. One was a purple-haired man in his fifties. His large, restless eyes darted around as he openly stared at Karen. Another was a tall, thin man whose black eyes made it impossible to tell where he was looking. In the center was a short man in his forties with dark gray hair slicked back, walking with a cane.
The shortest man in the center was the first to speak.
“It’s been a while, Sir Julius.”
“It has been some time, Earl Brahm.”
“I just heard about the poisoned cosmetics from Sir Helfried. I’ll immediately spread the prohibition to our family members as well. It’s truly frightening.”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
It was an unremarkable, standard exchange.
After Karen’s evaluation revealed that poison was circulating, Helfried likely left the hunting festival in a hurry and summoned the Elders’ Council to take countermeasures. The Elders’ Council members, having been briefed about the poisoned face powder, appeared to be returning to inform their relatives.
But the conversation didn’t end there.
“Come to think of it, my friend’s niece unfortunately collapsed after using that cosmetic which she loved.”
The purple-haired man next to Earl Brahm hung his head sadly. Karen tilted her head, thinking the hair color looked familiar when Earl Brahm said:
“Because Sir Helfried has been behaving in a manner unbecoming of a lord, poison has infiltrated the Ehlertt territory, resulting in this terrible misfortune.”
Earl Brahm sighed. He seemed intent on blaming Helfried. Though Karen could understand wanting to blame someone when a loved one was poisoned, she felt indignant at how unpleasant this person was.
Julius furrowed his brow.
“Behavior unbecoming of a noble head? Are you referring to his stay in the royal capital for Sieg’s sake?”
“It’s fortunate that he recovered, but the fact remains—Earl Ehlertt neglected his territory for the sake of his beloved child. During that time, we of the Elders’ Council had to band together to protect the territory.”
“…My brother merely tried to save the life of a capable successor. I think that was the correct decision as a lord.”
“That’s just an excuse, isn’t it? He couldn’t help trying to save him even if it was a futile struggle—looking at the result alone, one might call him a capable lord who protected a capable successor. But don’t you find that embarrassing to say?”
Julius fell silent.
It was as if he’d been hit right on the mark, and Karen understood that was probably the case. The desire to save Sieg must have taken precedence over everything else. Karen was surprised that this would be something to be criticized for among the nobility.
“What’s more, my friend’s niece applied the poisoned face powder daily because she wanted you to find her beautiful, Sir Julius… Don’t you think you bear some responsibility for her collapse?”
“Wha—”
Julius physically blocked Karen as she was about to speak. In her indignation, she had almost forgotten she was told to keep quiet.
“Don’t you feel sorry for her? Why not take responsibility, Sir Julius?”
Karen wanted to question where Julius’s responsibility lay in this situation where a woman voluntarily used toxic cosmetics and collapsed on her own. And what did "taking responsibility" even mean in this context?
But being forbidden to speak, Karen could only mumble under her breath in frustration.
Julius answered calmly:
“If you’re referring to Lord Reich’s niece, Miss Petra, she has just taken an alchemist’s potion and shown improvement in her symptoms.”
So "my friend’s niece" referred to Petra.
No wonder Karen had found his hair color familiar.
At Julius’s answer, Earl Brahm sighed. It was an extremely irritating sigh, and Karen tensed up warily.
“Sigh… While I’m sure you mean no harm, you’ve always had a talent for seducing women and driving them to eccentric behavior. Shouldn’t you take some responsibility for that, regardless of your intentions? Don’t you think so?”
Karen, who had nearly leaned forward in agitation, quickly withdrew and blended into the background. As one of the women who had engaged in eccentric behavior by requesting marriage to Julius as payment for a job, she couldn’t say anything about that.
“I sincerely hope we won’t have another incident like the… dungeon incident.”
Karen didn’t know what he was referring to, but it sounded extremely snide.
After speaking, the man called Earl Brahm left, leaning on his cane.
Once they were gone, Karen frowned and said:
“Who were those people? Isn’t it incredibly presumptuous of them to act that way toward you, the hero who conquered the Ehlertt territory’s dungeon?”
“They are also considered… heroes here.”
“Heroes?”
“They’re said to have been part of the party that entered the dungeon with my father when it was on the verge of collapse.”
“’Said to have been’?”
Karen repeated the phrase, sensing a subtle nuance, and Julius nodded.
“Whether they actually entered the dungeon is questionable. They don’t seem to have that level of ability. However, they were members of my father’s party.”
Karen recalled the appearance of those people. None of them looked strong, though there are adventurers who don’t look strong but are. But if Julius, a man of real ability, said so, she had no reason to doubt him.
“Could it be that those people are part of the Elders’ Council because they’re considered heroes?”
“That’s exactly right, Karen. They were pushed into their current positions by those who supported Brother Helfried as the son of a hero. Even after my father’s death, they cling to power by glorifying him while keeping my brother in his shadow.”
Even after the nobles had been gone for some time, Julius continued to stare at the entrance they had passed through.
“It’s laughable that even after more than ten years since my father’s death, a massive portrait of him is displayed more prominently than anyone else at the New Year’s Festival, which is meant to show the people what Ehlertt Earldom stands for. The citizens are guided to support this, and we can’t even reject it.”
Julius spoke with self-mockery as he gazed at the phantom of the nobles who effectively controlled the territory.
The Translator’s Corner
Brahm addressed Julius using “-dono”, I translated it as “sir”.
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