Chapter Two Hundred: Catfight
“Welcome home, Lady Karen, Mister Thor.”
“I’m home, Harald.”
From the grand temple, Karen returned home on foot with her brother. Thor had also attended the memorial service as an adventurer. Incidentally, he wasn’t very devout either. It was probably Karen’s influence, which made her feel responsible.
Currently, Thor was staying at Karen’s alchemy workshop since their family home had burned down.
Harald, who had clearly grown taller since before Karen entered the dungeon, received her bag from her. To change out of her mourning clothes, she went upstairs.
When she changed and returned to the first floor, Thor, also having changed, asked her:
“Tim’s not here. Did you hear anything? He always shows up without fail on days I’m around.”
“Now that you mention it, it is quiet.”
“Tim has not come today. He appears to be slacking off.”
Harald stated that coldly and flatly.
Ever since Thor had begun living at the alchemy workshop, Tim had come by noisily every day in hopes of receiving training from him.
According to Thor, Tim had talent, and when he was at the alchemy workshop, Thor would spar with him in the yard.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity to receive instruction from a B-rank adventurer, Tim had completely grasped Thor’s schedule and knew it better than even Karen, so Tim should have known better than anyone that Thor would be free after returning from the memorial service.
“I’m gonna go check on him. He might’ve caught a cold or something.”
“I should come too, as his employer.”
“Even when you two were in the dungeon, the days Tim came were inconsistent, you know?”
“But I’m here, aren’t I? Unless heaven and earth turn upside down, there’s no way Tim wouldn’t come.”
Leaving the unconvinced Harald behind, Thor and Karen headed to the adventurers’ district.
As they approached, the clear smell of trouble began to emerge, and Thor broke into a run. Karen couldn’t keep up with him, but she also started running.
Near the adventurers’ district, a section called the slums was on fire. It reminded her of the sight when her family apartment had burned, but unlike then, no mages were trying to extinguish the fire.
In this area, there were neither people who could use magic nor people who had reason to use magic for this place. The people who lived there struggled on their own, drawing water from wells and throwing it by hand in an attempt to stop the flames. Among those fighting the fire was Tim.
“My, if it isn’t Karen.”
It was a familiar voice, but one far too out of place to hear in such a location, and Karen swallowed hard.
“Marian, why are you in a place like this?”
“The calamity in the dungeon was the fault of those magicless incompetents, wasn’t it?—And caught up in the schemes of those incompetents, my brother Isaac died.”
Without answering Karen’s question, Marian said expressionlessly.
Thor lashed out:
“Your brother tried to kill us! That’s why he got used by others and died on his own! He got what he deserved!”
“Thor, stop it.”
“Fine, if you say so, Sis.”
Though she flinched a bit when glared at by Thor, Marian immediately glared back at Karen and Thor and barked:
“The incompetent should die after all!! Brother Isaac may have had issues with his personality, but he was excellent. Besides, he wasn’t someone who could do such outrageous things! This happened because we let incompetents live!”
“So you burned down the slums?”
“I didn’t do it. But yes, I share the same feelings as the comrades who created this situation.”
“Comrades?”
“People who are trying to eliminate F-ranks from this city—or even from this world.”
Marian removed her glove and showed Karen the back of her hand. The back of her hand was completely clean; the contract seal had vanished.
“An A-rank adventurer was kind enough to use a precious magical tool to nullify my contract. Because we’re comrades who lost important people due to getting involved with incompetents. Also, because the Gubert Trading Company is a company with a record of trying to erase incompetents from this country.”
“An A-rank adventurer—don’t tell me, Mitra?”
“Oh my, you know her? You have quite the connections.”
“Thor? Who’s Mitra…?”
“She’s the wife of the mage who died during a dungeon investigation after being doused with black powder, leaving only his heart and magic core behind, Sis.”
The voice of the woman pleading, "Bring my husband back to life with the panacea," revived deep in Karen’s eardrums.
Just moments ago, at the memorial service, Karen had heard that woman’s crying voice. She had desperately held back her sobs until the High Priest’s prayer ended, then eventually let them escape, lamenting in grief as if unable to endure it.
That woman’s sorrow had transformed into hatred toward people without magical power. It was a situation Karen had anticipated, had feared.
“Karen, Lady Mitra also resents you for not saving her husband. And she has questions too. About why only you could enter places that only those without magical power could enter. I didn’t really understand that part myself, though.”
“That’s classified information, you know.”
Discussing what happened inside the dungeon outside had been forbidden in order to prevent chaos. Otherwise, the entire city might have turned to persecuting people with little magical power.
“Lady Mitra apparently doesn’t care about that. To change the world, she intends to widely publicize the danger of those without magical power. And I won the role of preparing the stage for that.”
“Stage…?”
“Father collapsed when he heard the report of Brother Isaac’s death. In his place, I’m now acting as the temporary head of the Gubert Trading Company. As company head, I’m going to sue you, Karen.”
“According to Sis, you reflected on your actions, but that’s totally different, isn’t it? I can’t imagine Sis would lose no matter what you sue her for, but should I punch you once to shut you up?”
Thor’s magical power wavered, and Karen could sense Marian flinching.
Karen sharply cautioned him:
“Thor, I told you to stop, didn’t I? Go over there and help with the firefighting.”
“But—!”
“Just go.”
“—Fine. It’s not good to steal someone’s prey. But call me right away if anything happens.”
Sending Thor away, Karen turned back to Marian and said.
“Marian. I believe in you.”
At Karen’s words, Marian’s eyes widened.
“I don’t doubt the tears you shed that day. I can’t even imagine being punished by one’s own life, but—knowing you, Marian, who’s strict with both others and yourself, I think you’ve been sufficiently punished.”
Karen remembered the sight of Marian, who would receive punishment from her own life, looking toward the future.
“So, can you tell me your true feelings? Could it be—”
As Karen was about to say it, Marian, who had approached with quick steps, slapped Karen’s cheek with her palm. A serious slap. Karen lost her words, and her cheek throbbed hot and painful.
“Be quiet, you naive girl—A-rank adventurers have ears like hell.”
Marian whispered in Karen’s ear.
Her voice was so faint that even those hellish ears likely couldn’t pick it up.
“You don’t get it, do you? We’re desperately holding back from a full-scale purge precisely to spread the message that the magicless must be eliminated. That’s why we’ve only burned this place so far—we’re showing restraint. If we push too far, too fast, ordinary people might reject our cause and turn against us, don’t you think? Stop talking nonsense and face reality.”
Those arguments were likely how Marian had restrained Mitra’s brutality.
Karen was certain. Marian hadn’t betrayed Karen—on the contrary, Marian was standing there to protect the F-rank people who were about to be exposed to massacre. Pretending to be Mitra’s ally, she was here to minimize the damage.
While being certain of this, as a countermeasure against the A-rank adventurer who might be watching from anywhere, Karen also slapped Marian’s cheek back.
“Marian, why?”
Why was she taking Karen’s side?
Originally, her way of thinking should have been closer to Mitra’s, just as Mitra believed.
Even though she might have lost her brother Isaac because of Karen.
While Karen hadn’t thought Marian would become an enemy, why would she do something as dangerous as spying? No matter how she thought about it, there was no reason for Marian to risk her life.
Marian twisted her face and said:
“—’Why,’ you ask? You’re the one who changed me! Karen!”
As Marian jumped at her, Karen grappled with her and rolled to the ground.
Her collar grabbed, Karen shouted while slapping Marian with her palm again.
“In the first place, I have no reason to be sued by you!”
“The crime of protecting incompetents! Karen!”
“What kind of crime is that!?”
“I’ll change the world to make it a crime!”
While pulling each other’s hair, Karen asked for the information she wanted to hear, and Marian shouted the inside story.
The brawl continued even after both were battered and out of breath.
In the end, Marian was held back by people from the trading company, and Karen by Thor, pulling them apart.
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