Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty-Six: Hunting Festival Scheme
“You’re quite the philanthropist. To extend a hand even to children without magical power.”
“I’m honored by your praise.”
Karen answered with a forced smile, but she understood well enough that it wasn’t actual praise. The noble’s eyes mocked her, as if calling her actions foolish for helping children without magical power.
Even taking Alise’s help into account, gathering children with low magical power went far too smoothly. By that evening, every noble Karen had approached had readily accepted her proposal, and it was already decided that over fifty children, even by a rough estimate, would be sent to Karen.
Since she was still in the process of searching for a place to take them in, the arrangement was to have the children sent once a location was determined at a later date. The hunting festival had not even begun yet, and still, there were far too many.
That’s how critically fatal it was in this world to have little magical power—or rather, to have "none" at all. From the nobles’ perspective, they probably felt they were simply foisting troublesome burdens who could cause unpredictable problems and served no purpose onto Karen.
Thinking of the children who would be sent away to Karen without even knowing where they were going made her chest ache. That said, she had no intention of stopping now.
And at that moment, Karen had been summoned to Helfried’s tent. Alise, Julius, and even Sieg were there beside him.
“Karen, I’ve heard the story from Alise.”
Helfried began gravely. It seemed Helfried did not think highly of Karen’s efforts to gather children. With wrinkles creasing his brow, he said:
“Just because of your promise with Horst, you don’t need to devote yourself to this extent. Julius should have told you—the matter of Ehlertt’s children will be handled by Ehlertt.”
Indeed, Julius had made that promise at the orphanage in Ehlertt’s name with the orphanage director August. The fact that Julius had made that immediate decision meant that Helfried had been concerned about the children’s treatment for some time.
From the beginning, she’d been told not to worry about the promise made with Horst. However, she didn’t recall being forbidden from doing something for the children as an individual.
“Are you saying that my acting as an individual would inconvenience the Ehlertt family?”
“It’s not a matter of inconvenience, Karen. It pains my heart to think that the promise you made with Horst for my sake is binding you.”
“Binding me?”
Karen looked at Julius with wide, puzzled eyes.
“Mr. Julius, did you really think that?”
“If not for my sake, why else would you be doing this, Karen? You have no responsibility or connection to these children—where is the need, the reason, to even spend your private wealth on them?”
“I see… Lord Helfried, you think the same way?”
“Seeing you trying to act for Ehlertt’s children when I haven’t even requested it, the reasons are naturally limited. At first, I considered the possibility that you were a bottomlessly good-natured person, but… as far as I recall from the investigation report on you I reviewed before, you’re not such a good person as to help people unconditionally and without limit.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Karen was aware she was kinder than the average person in this world, but she certainly didn’t think about saving every single person in the entire world. She drew certain lines, and when she judged something to be outside those lines, she had abandoned people before.
Not everyone could be saved—that’s why there was the F-rank cutoff standard. This was that kind of world.
“Karen, you don’t need to worry about the children. I—the Ehlertt family—will take responsibility and care for them. If you wish, we can gather children not just from our territory but from throughout the entire kingdom. Thanks to Julius conquering the dungeon, our territory has that much capacity.”
He meant they had both financial capacity and land capacity.
Monsters didn’t appear within a dungeon’s sphere of influence. In a world where people could only live within that sphere of influence, conquering a dungeon’s deepest floor meant expanding that sphere. By conquering the twentieth floor of the Ehlertt Dungeon, Julius had literally expanded the Ehlertt territory. That said, devoting that newly created capacity to children with little magical power would likely not be welcomed by anyone else in Ehlertt.
“Ms. Karen, if you’re worried that the children might be treated poorly, I will personally look after them. So won’t you please be at ease?”
“Lady Alise…”
“Sister Karen, I’ll help too. So you don’t need to shoulder this burden alone, okay?”
“Even you, Master Sieg…”
“Karen.”
Julius approached Karen and said with a gentle smile:
“We all support your dream. We dream of the day when your dream comes true. That’s why we don’t want to be a burden to you. We don’t want to let anyone be that.”
“—I surrender.”
Receiving the words of the kind-hearted members of the Ehlertt family, Karen gave in.
“Everyone, and especially you, Mr. Julius—it wouldn’t have been strange if you’d noticed, but since you apparently haven’t, I’ll confess. Though, frankly, it would have been more profitable for me if you hadn’t realized.”
“Karen?”
At Karen’s way of speaking, Julius and everyone looked puzzled. Karen smiled wryly.
“You all seem to feel like you’re pushing trouble onto me, but nothing could be further from the truth. I am simply investing early… Before you all realize their value.”
“Their value?”
Helfried voiced the question on behalf of the group.
Karen grinned.
“I plan to educate the children with little magical power I’ve gathered and have them make my non-magical potions. I predict that children with little magical power should be able to make my potions.”
In truth, it was less Karen’s prediction and more Harald’s "understanding." As long as they believed in Karen and understood the state of having no magical power, they could make non-magical potions.
Karen’s potions were so utterly unique that there was always a shortage of every single type. Even now, letters pressing for orders were probably arriving constantly at the alchemy workshop. If these could be made by the hands of many children, it would change the world.
Karen planned to have the children make potions and skim off the top. Though she intended to put some of the skimmed money toward their education and living expenses, what she was planning to do was precisely the work of a shady alchemist.
“In other words, I’m not trying to do good because I can’t leave these children alone! I’m gathering children, educating them, and planning to make them work for my own profit! So please stop treating me as if I were some tremendous do-gooder!”
Karen protested. She was far too uncomfortable.
“However, if your objection is that I should not poach talent from Ehlertt, I will accept that. I had originally planned to quietly take them all… but you are all far too kind, so I couldn’t keep silent—my loss, I suppose.”
Who’s really the good person here? Karen said with an exasperated expression.
Sieg asked her:
“Sister Karen, what will you do when the children come of age? Will you bind them with magical contracts and make them work for you forever?”
“Huh? I wouldn’t do that. When they come of age, they’ll leave the nest just like from the orphanage.”
Sieg exchanged looks with his parents and Julius, then shrugged.
“So… you’re not only giving children without a place to belong somewhere to belong, but you’re trying to equip them with irreplaceable skills—rather than simply keeping them alive.”
“Regardless of what you may think, Ms. Karen, they will be able to live better lives.”
“And for that, it seems you intend to generously share your special knowledge, Sister Karen.”
“You are creating a reason—your own profit—to justify helping those children.”
At the words spoken in turn by Helfried, Alise, Sieg, and Julius, Karen faltered.
“No, I mean, I’m doing this for my own gain…!”
Julius looked down at Karen and narrowed his eyes.
“Seeing you work so hard for ‘profit’ is rather endearing… perhaps that is just the bias of someone in love?”
“In love…! Ugh! That’s hard to deny!”
“It’s a bit disappointing that it wasn’t for my sake, though.”
“No, it is for your sake too, Mr. Julius—”
As Julius made a lonely expression, Karen inadvertently let her true feelings slip, deepening the smiles of the Ehlertt family.
Karen admitted complete defeat and raised the white flag.
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