Chapter Eighty: Feelings on Display
The female painter kept glancing behind Karen, making her wonder what was going on. Before she knew it, Julius was there, looking up at the portrait she had drawn.
Karen gasped sharply.
It was avant-garde art featuring Julius holding a single rose and winking. How would Julius himself react to it? Karen was too afraid to check despite being responsible for it, so she looked at the painter’s work instead. Though still in the rough stage, it was already genuinely good.
“When this painting is finished, could you also draw a palm-sized portrait and sell it to me?”
“Lady Alchemist, don’t you have any dignity…?”
An adventurer who had been supporting the painter glanced at Karen with a dubious expression.
Karen hadn’t exactly painted Julius’ portrait with dignity in the first place. She only had to draw it so everyone would think she was just doing something outrageous on her own, but it was a brilliantly shining great embarrassment among her history of embarrassments.
At that moment, the adventurer called out to Horst in a booming voice:
“Earl Brahm! While I appreciate your consideration, next time, when I conquer the dungeon, I don’t want to have to hold back for the sake of others. And I can’t ask other people to hold back either!”
“No! I’ll be the next one to conquer it!”
“No way! It’ll be me! I’ll be the one to conquer the dungeon! And when I do, I’ll need a grand celebration to spread my glorious name throughout the country. Though it pains me, I’ll also celebrate grandly when others conquer dungeons!”
All adventurers wanted to become heroes and genuinely believed they would someday as they delved into dungeons. So if people were to hold back when it’s their turn, it would be utterly unacceptable.
It was because Horst didn’t get that kind of thing that Karen ended up catching him off guard.
Horst Brahm.
Apparently a member of Winfried’s party, but he knew far too little about the mindset of dungeon delvers. Just as Julius once said, this man standing motionless truly knew nothing about dungeons.
Karen herself didn’t have much experience delving into dungeons either. However, since childhood, whenever her father was away, she would take her younger brother’s hand and sneak into adventurers’ banquets, cleverly enjoying free meals.
The more lively things got, the more tip money she received—it was a system that worked. She could earn plenty just by singing songs with lyrics from her previous life adapted to this world’s style. A simple magic trick would get roars of applause. Sometimes even providing lively commentary during fierce fights earned her all-you-can-eat privileges and take-home food.
At that moment, Helfried, who had been watching the whole sequence from his seat, stood up.
Karen suddenly realized her mistake. Today’s main character was supposed to be Sieg, and the purpose was to introduce him, but Karen had completely diverted the flow to Julius. Although she had obtained Helfried’s permission beforehand, perhaps she had gone too far. Sieg had completely faded into the background.
“People of the Ehlertt Earldom, brave adventurers.”
The adventurers’ excitement diminished slightly as they turned to look at Helfried. Karen sensed some antipathy toward Helfried in their reactions. Was it a feeling instilled by Horst, or perhaps a fair assessment of Helfried who hadn’t prioritized his territory?
Helfried continued speaking without hesitation.
“I am grateful for your voices celebrating my brother Julius’s achievements despite your own hardships. Therefore, for future New Year’s Festivals, should an adventurer conquer the deepest floor of the Ehlertt Dungeon, I would like to commission their portrait and hang it here. What do you think?”
With those words, Helfried pointed to the most prominent place in the entrance hall—the spot where Winfried’s portrait had been displayed, now obscured by Julius’s portrait (the avant-garde art).
The adventurers, who loved glory, were excited by Helfried’s proposal. This way, as long as conquerors appeared in the years to come, they wouldn’t need to display Winfried’s portrait. If Horst insisted on displaying Winfried’s portrait, the adventurers he thought were his allies would turn against him.
“As expected of Earl Ehlertt! How generous!”
“However, this doesn’t apply to portraits of those with notably poor conduct, so be mindful of your behavior.”
“Gah! I smashed all the tables at the tavern while drunk, but I paid for them, so I’m fine, right?!”
“No problems on my end, I’ve been squeaky clean.”
“Earl! This guy is lying! He’s been preying on rookie adventurers! ”
“Shut up, you bastard!”
Half of the nobles attending the New Year’s Festival looked utterly appalled, while the other half appeared exasperated or wore wry smiles tinged with understanding. They probably knew about adventurers’ behavior in dungeons. Those who looked disturbed were mostly slender young men and ladies who seemed to lack combat experience.
For Karen, this atmosphere was familiar. Even if Ehlertt Earldom was away territory, the adventurers’ vibe was Karen’s home turf. It felt as comforting as being at home.
At that moment, Julius’s shoulders began to shake.
“Hey, isn’t Master Julius crying?”
“What?! Is Master Julius crying?!”
“It’s your fault, Alchemist.”
“My fault…?!”
As Karen stood there in shock, Julius hunched his back.
“Heh… hehe… hehehehehe…”
“Oh, looks like he’s laughing. That’s good, Alchemist.”
Being cried at would be troubling, but being laughed at was also rather sad. Karen had genuinely put her whole heart into drawing that picture.
“Hahaha, ahahahahahahahaha!”
“He’s crying and laughing…”
As someone pointed out, Julius was indeed laughing while crying. He was laughing heartily with tears streaming down his face. Even his crumpled-up smiling face was so beautiful that everyone, including Karen and the residents, couldn’t help but stare in admiration.
When his laughter finally subsided, Julius wiped away his tears and said:
“Thank you for the best gift ever, Karen.”
“That’s definitely flattery, Alchemist.”
“I know that!”
When Karen turned around to glare at the noisy adventurer who had been pestering her, she was suddenly embraced from behind. Though it was obvious who it was, Karen was still speechless, her face turning bright red.
“Wha…?!”
“I’m sincerely grateful to you, Karen… Ahahahaha!”
Karen’s heart was in a festive uproar.
On the platform with all eyes upon them, while Julius embraced her from behind and laughed, Karen, through a hundred shifting expressions, showed everyone how she felt about him.
Amid cheers and whistles, Karen trembled with embarrassment.
This is soo cuuutee
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