Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Five: Hunting Festival Venue
“Karen, I’m glad you came.”
“Thank you for inviting me to the hunting festival, Lord Helfried.”
The hunting festival. It was a noble’s event and originally had nothing to do with commoners. Being invited to it was an honor for a commoner.
When Karen bowed, Helfried nodded solemnly.
Arriving later than Helfried’s group, Karen and Julius were escorted by part of the knight order to the edge of the great forest bordering the eastern side of the Ehlertt territory, where the hunting festival was held.
“Julius, I’m looking forward to your achievements this year as well.”
“Since Karen is here, I intend to try even harder to show my best side.”
“Hahaha! I see! So such a season has come for you too, Julius.”
As Karen watched Julius smile bashfully at Helfried, her earlobe became softly warm—a faint warmth as if Julius had touched her earlobe with his fingertips. Julius must have delicately infused magical power into the earring.
For nobles, the hunting festival was an enjoyable event, and for noble men, it seemed to be a place to appeal to the women they fancied. As if to say he intended to appeal to Karen, Julius sent her a subtle signal.
When Karen’s face turned red, Julius glanced at her and chuckled before immediately returning to his conversation with Helfried.
As Karen trembled in frustration at being outmaneuvered, Alise and Sieg approached.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Ms. Karen.”
“Your tent has been prepared over here, Sister Karen!”
A large number of nobles had already gathered at the hunting festival site. The sight of tents pitched here and there with cooking fires reminded her of the dungeon investigation team. Remembering the black powder from before—the pitiful remains of monster eggs—Karen shuddered.
“Sister Karen, are you cold? Are you okay?”
Worried by Sieg, who had been watching, Karen nodded without bothering to deny it.
“Yes… It’s a bit cold.”
“It’s true that this area is even colder than the territorial capital. Let’s get to the tent quickly. We’ll guide you.”
“Are all the people here nobles of Ehlertt territory?”
In other words, they were the vassal nobles under the Ehlertt Earldom. It was a frightening thought that this much influence had been under Horst’s control until now.
“Mostly. But some aren’t.”
“Is that so?”
“The hunting festival was originally a festival for conquering unconquered dungeons and expanding territory. It’s exactly what King Sybilla, the founder of the Kingdom of Earthfill, did.”
While guiding Karen, Sieg taught her about the origins of the hunting festival.
The founding myth of King Sybilla’s pioneering record that even Karen knew. He conquered dungeons overflowing with monsters, opened up those lands, and established the Kingdom of Earthfill. After that, the strong warriors who followed Sybilla gradually conquered the surrounding unexplored dungeons. Those became the later nobles and their territories.
“Long ago, once a year, people would designate land to conquer, gather together, conquer that land’s dungeon and govern it, and build towns in the sphere of influence of the dungeon that had become peaceful. The one who played the key role in the conquest became the ruling noble of that land, and those who cooperated became their house’s retainers. Even now, we’re imitating that.”
“So you don’t do exactly the same thing?”
“Because it’s dangerous—an unexplored dungeon that’s never been cleared is basically in a constant state of a massive stampede. Monsters just keep pouring out. So now, we only hunt the ones that spill over to this side. We also invite nobles from territories that don’t have unconquered dungeons nearby.”
Sieg said with a knowing look, then looked up at Karen.
“Sister Karen, you absolutely must not go near it, okay?”
“Okay…”
Though Karen gave a good child’s response, Sieg pressed it upon Urte and Sepl.
“You supporters, please take care of Sister Karen.”
It was as if to say Karen’s response alone wasn’t reliable enough.
And—feeling that Sieg’s atmosphere was different from usual, Karen blinked. The two probably didn’t know Sieg’s usual atmosphere, so they nodded without seeming to feel any sense of incongruity.
“We’re supporters, after all. Please rest assured, we won’t let her take risks that would require hiring adventurers.”
Urte bowed even more courteously.
Though Sieg’s face, receiving that bow, was smiling, that smile even conveyed pressure. When Karen stood there dumbfounded, Sieg, noticing this, smiled brightly. The cold, oppressive aura surrounding him vanished instantly.
“Sister Karen, your tent is here!”
“…Is this a shared tent that I’ll use jointly with someone?”
Space for pitching tents was not unlimited. The permitted location and size of tents varied depending on one’s rank and status. The tent, comparable in size to the one Waltride had used during the dungeon expedition, looked too spacious even if used with Urte and Sepl.
“Ufufu, this tent is exclusively for you, Ms. Karen. Please go inside and see.”
Urged by Alise, Karen entered, and her eyes widened.
“It’s set up as an alchemy workshop…”
From basic tools like beakers, flasks, and mortars to everything beyond the minimum alchemy tools Karen carried with her—it was all there. On top of that, the cold drifting from the deep forest was completely shut out, leaving a warm and comfortable space. Part of it was due to being warmed by fires in the hearths, but this tent was also a climate control magical tool. It was probably the highest grade among human-made magical tools, enchanted with defensive magic such as eavesdropping prevention.
“Please don’t feel pressured, Ms. Karen. You’re an alchemist, and this is the hunting festival venue. It’s a place where you never know when someone might need potions. We’ve provided this tent to make it easy for you to receive work requests. Of course, until there are requests, you’re free to use it as you like.”
“…That’s just an excuse so I can stay comfortably and do alchemy however I like, isn’t it!?”
“Oh my, it seems we’ve been found out, Sieg.”
“If we’ve been found out, it can’t be helped, Mother.”
Alise and Sieg laughed together, then turned to face Karen side by side.
“We called you here to enjoy the hunting festival, but—Ms. Karen, it seems you have another purpose.”
“…You can tell?”
Karen smiled wryly. It was like the awkwardness of coming to a friend’s house to play, but being found out that you came with another purpose. However, both Alise and Sieg were looking at such a Karen with kind eyes.
“We can tell. That’s why we want to help you, Sister Karen.”
“If there’s anything we can do to cooperate for what you want to accomplish, please tell us.”
“Master Sieg, Lady Alise…”
Karen was moved by how easily they saw through her intentions, yet still offered their help—but only for a moment. She smiled faintly and said:
“I’ll almost certainly drag you into trouble, you know? I mean, I was already planning to use the hunting festival as my stage.”
“The hunting festival is fundamentally a social gathering. It’s natural for everyone to have their own motives, and Ms. Karen, whatever you do is fine. My husband should be happy to cooperate as well.”
“Ah, but Sister Karen, let us do the hunting festival. We have to hunt monsters for the sake of the villages and towns around the forest.”
“You’re so thoughtful of your subjects, Master Sieg. Truly befitting the next Earl Ehlertt.”
Karen smiled at the embarrassed Sieg and said:
“I have no intention of interfering with the hunting festival.”
Karen entered the tent she had been peering into. Alise and Sieg followed, and Urte and Sepl stood watch at the tent entrance. After confirming that security was perfect, Karen said:
“I want to gather all the children with little magical power throughout the Ehlertt territory and take them in.”
Surely, many of the nobles gathering at this place thought of children without magical power as troublesome and were at a loss for how to handle them. While they did so, the Children of the Dark Night were abducting children with nowhere to go.
Karen intended to negotiate with the nobles gathered at this place and take in the children before they were abducted. She was trying to create a place to shelter the children she gathered that way.
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