Chapter Two Hundred and One: The Stage for Assertion
When they returned to the alchemy workshop, Julius and Sara had also gathered there. Karen breathed a sigh of relief that she had used a potion on the way back to heal her battered face, and she straightened her disheveled hair with her fingers.
“Karen, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Mr. Julius. We both held back, and I think there’s no harm in letting her hit me once.”
Isaac was dead. And he had not been mourned at today’s memorial service.
It was because, even if he had been manipulated by someone—by Horst’s group—he had still taken part in their scheme. And the reason Isaac had been driven to desperation was probably Karen. Her existence, and the achievements she had accomplished, had undoubtedly cornered him.
It wouldn’t have been strange if Marian resented Karen. Yet for some reason, Marian was working for Karen’s sake. Even though she was no longer bound by contract.
“…If an A-rank adventurer were eavesdropping, would you notice?”
“If they whispered, I think I could notice—but I can’t say I’m totally confident.”
“You can’t be overheard inside the alchemy workshop’s workroom, Karen. This workshop has several spells cast on it to protect the workshop’s secrets.”
“Really!?”
“That’s why Brother Helfried and Sister-in-law Alise gave you this workshop.”
They had given her this gift so that Karen, who had many secrets, could protect them.
Without even a moment to savor her gratitude, Karen invited everyone inside the alchemy workshop.
The moment they stepped inside, Sara bowed her head toward Karen.
“Lady Karen, my supervision was lax, and I allowed Marian to be released so easily. I apologize.”
“Don’t apologize, Sara. The contract release was due to an A-rank adventurer’s magical tool, so there was no way to prevent it. Besides… Marian didn’t betray us. If anything, she’s taking my feelings into account and stopping the A-rank adventurer from going out of control.”
“Isn’t that giving Marian too much credit? Lady Karen, her fundamental nature hasn’t changed. She has become more considerate of you, but that’s because she learned that you possess the power to protect the nation that she should respect. She did feel strong remorse for nearly crushing that budding potential herself, but…”
“Yes. That’s true. If I hadn’t shown my strength, she wouldn’t have reflected on her actions. If I had remained weak, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”
Karen didn’t think Marian would betray her. She believed in the attitude Marian had shown when she was truly trying to atone with her life for what she had done to Karen as an individual. But Karen hadn’t expected Marian to go this far for F-rank people. It was true that Karen cared for them, but they were still people with no direct connection to her.
People like Marian weren’t rare. The world’s gaze toward those of lower rank was cold, and if it became known that there was a possibility they might rebel against that coldness, the cold indifference could easily transform into fierce loathing. For some reason, Marian was trying to prevent the world from changing in that way.
“She may be plotting something.”
“That might be so.”
Karen nodded without denying Sara’s words.
“She said she’ll bring charges against me on the day of the grand market, when lots of people come. Until then, she’ll keep the A-rank adventurer from going out of control, so after that, we’ll have to manage somehow on our own.”
“She’s just taking her frustrations out on you, right? Anyway, I’ll crush Mitra myself. Honestly, I’m worried about doing it alone, so I’ll negotiate with the Adventurers’ Guild and gather some companions.”
“One week from now, right? I can consult with the Royal Knights on my end, but in that case, we might make an enemy of His Highness Boromias.”
“That prince?”
When Karen tilted her head, Julius made a bitter face.
“Based on what happened in the dungeon, His Highness Boromias has become even more devoted to the ideology of absolute might. It seems he thought that the recent incident was the result of forcibly keeping alive those who couldn’t survive on their own. Now he keeps advisors with biased ideologies close by and complains daily. He might well side with them.”
“In that case, it would be better to settle this as a dispute between commoners.”
Boromias had been stripped of his position at the memorial service due to his failures with the dungeon investigation team and had become bitter.
If they involved nobles who would side with Karen, nobles from the other side might emerge as well. If oppression were carried out under the prince’s leadership, Karen would have no way to resist.
As long as they kept it as a commoner’s problem, nobles and the prince probably wouldn’t bother to interfere. To them, commoners were insignificant beings.
“Why don’t make your rank public, Lady Karen? If it becomes clear that you are a B-rank alchemist, Marian surely wouldn’t do something as foolish as accusing you.”
At Sara’s words, Karen shook her head.
“According to Marian, there are many allies. It seems multiple troublemakers have gathered. Marian just ‘won’ the role of bringing them together, so I don’t think just stopping the adventurer and Marian will end this flow.”
“Then, Karen, what do you intend to do?”
“I need to persuade people I don’t even know who or where they are—to persuade society itself. Even if they have little magical power, even if they’re low-ranked, even if they can do nothing at all—”
As she answered Julius’s question, Karen raised her face and looked out the window, in the direction where Marian probably was.
By confronting the Gubert Trading Company, which refused to acknowledge her claims, Karen aimed to spread her principles to society—and make them widely accepted. It was something she had thought impossible now that the Gubert Trading Company had been destabilized by producing a criminal like Isaac.
“—I want to make a desperate effort to prove and have it recognized that all people have value simply by being alive.”
This was what Karen had wanted to do from the very beginning.
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