Chapter Three Hundred and Eight: Face of the New Year’s Festival
In the portrait, Karen had been placed slightly toward the back—and yet, she occupied the dead center of the composition, positioned at a height just slightly above the others. Julius and Licht stood side by side in the foreground, one to each side, bathed in the radiant light that emanated from Karen behind them.
“Ooh!”
“As expected of Master Julius—as expected of Master Licht!”
“You! How did you manage to stay quiet about something so important?!”
“His Excellency the Earl placed us under a gag order, Father.”
Whatever they truly thought about Karen being in the center, the nobles at least raised cheers. Rather than allowing adventurers to become the face of the New Year Festival, they seemed relieved that fellow nobles were depicted in the portrait, even if Karen stood in the middle, and chose to overlook her presence.
The funeral atmosphere from moments before had vanished entirely; the nobles had suddenly come alive with energy, and Karen’s expression grew complicated. The unpleasant way some of them were casting meaningful glances toward the adventurers’ side, even as they praised Julius and Licht’s glory, was something to behold. Though given how the adventurers had been behaving earlier, one could argue they had brought it on themselves—even so, Karen’s sympathies lay entirely with the adventurers’ side right now.
She had heard that the portrait for the Crimson Thunder—for her little brother’s party—had already been prepared. Hadn’t Thor been looking forward to it? Wasn’t that why he had been smiling so broadly? And yet, it had been swapped out at the very last moment. How bitterly disappointed they must be.
And the adventurers as well—how let down they must have felt. They had been holding their breath with anticipation, expecting that the glorious feat of clearing the dungeon would finally mean an adventurer becoming the face of the New Year’s Festival, and now that hope had been betrayed.
“Hey! Wasn’t it supposed to be the Crimson Thunder?!”
“Tch, nobles stole the spotlight again.”
“Are you stupid? Taking down an S-rank black dragon is worth conquering the fiftieth floor. The thirtieth floor doesn’t even compare… can’t be helped, I suppose.”
Naturally, the adventurers had their feelings about the glory that had been taken from them—and yet, there seemed to be a grudging sense of acceptance as well.
“Well, a black dragon is a special kind of monster to the Ehlertt family…”
“But will Crimson Thunder accept it?”
When one adventurer spoke in a threatening tone, the nobles fell silent and nervously looked toward Thor and his companions. Karen too, having stolen her brother’s moment in the sun, cast a nervous glance toward his face.
With every gaze in the room upon him, Thor shoved back his chair with a loud scrape and rose to his feet.
“That’s my sis for you! Congratulations on taking down the black dragon!”
Thor stood there applauding with a face full of pure, beaming joy.
“…Sis?”
The great hall erupted into murmurs.
“Hey, Crimson Thunder—you don’t feel sore about having your glory taken from you?”
“Hah? Why would I feel sore about my sis getting the recognition she deserves? Right? You guys?”
Thor shot the adventurer who had asked a baffled look, then turned to his companions for agreement. Wanda stood up with a smile.
“Obviously. Way to go, Ms. Karen! I always knew you’d pull something like this!”
“Truly befitting our sponsor! Such a wonderful lady—ow!”
Luis added that while being kicked by Thor beneath the table.
“How about we all raise a glass together sometime soon to celebrate? Karen would whip up some good food to go with it.”
“Why are you just taking it for granted that Sis will cook, Odo?”
“Hm? I’d pay for it.”
“Congratulations, Ms. Karen.”
Odo and Chris offered their congratulations without a hint of bitterness. The members of the Crimson Thunder, who had every right to feel their glory had been stolen, didn’t seem to mind in the slightest—they were celebrating her without reservation, wholly and unconditionally. Seeing that, the adventurers who had shown their displeasure gradually let it go, murmuring in resignation.
“Well, the one in the center is still just Karen the alchemist, after all…”
“They’re probably just placing an appropriate motif in the center and putting the two main figures on either side to show that the two knights are of roughly equal standing.”
Nobles and adventurers glared at one another in their respective ways—but when Thor stopped clapping and made to move, the room fell quiet again, as if waiting for his next words.
“Sis, seriously—congratulations!”
“Thor… it was supposed to be your moment, and you’re congratulating me?”
“Don’t worry about us, Sis. The thirtieth floor was always just a milestone on the way for us.”
Wanda, Odo, Luis, and Chris gave quiet nods and smiles at Thor’s words. There wasn’t even a trace of forced compliance in them—only the quiet dignity of adventurers who would soon be rising to A-rank.
“And yet, Lord Ehlertt was originally going to display our portrait, you know? He said your portrait wasn’t ready in time since it came in so late, and he planned to have a portrait of you guys made later.”
“Ahem. Indeed, portraits are not something that can be completed overnight.”
Karen stared at Helfried wide-eyed, and Thor continued, visibly indignant:
“How could they not make you the face of the New Year’s Festival after everything you accomplished, Sis? So I told the Earl that if the Ehlertt’s family wasn’t going to prepare your portrait, then I’d paint it myself.”
“So Crimson Thunder was trying to pull the same thing Alchemist Karen did last year?”
“Don’t tell me they’re actually real siblings…!?”
“Isn’t she the same woman who got Young Master Sieg calling her ‘sister’!?”
Distracted by the whispers drifting from somewhere in the crowd, Karen turned to Alise for an explanation. Alise gave a small, somewhat weary laugh.
“That’s how it happened. It was Thor’s wish, in the end… he didn’t so much grant permission for the swap as request that the portrait for the New Year’s Festival be changed to you, Karen.”
It seemed the original plan had been to display the portrait of the Crimson Thunder that had already been prepared. Therefore, they had planned to keep information about the hunting festival’s winners hidden for the time being, unveil the New Year Festival portrait first, and then announce that nobles had achieved an even greater feat, thereby pleasing both adventurers and nobles. Unfortunately for them, Thor—with his absurdly sharp hearing—had found out.
And then Thor had demanded that Karen be the one featured in the portrait.
“But why am I in the center of all things…!?”
“The goddess’s judgment is always fair. You were the only one who ascended the steps after defeating the black dragon, right, Sis? That means you’re the one who contributed the most. Of course, you get to be in the middle!”
Apparently, this was the result of Thor’s argument winning out.
Practically no one in this room likely believed Karen had contributed meaningfully to defeating the black dragon. And yet, because it had been the earnest wish of the party that cleared the thirtieth floor of the territorial capital dungeon, it had been granted.
“For something painted in such a short time, it’s amazingly good!”
Thor looked up at the portrait with a satisfied air, and Helfried gave a feeble nod.
“There was a swift-handed painter Karen discovered previously—an artist by the name of Irine. She painted this.”
Irine, sitting backstage on a chair with an utterly exhausted look on her face, was the same woman painter who had dashed off a portrait of Julius the previous year. Her style had a somewhat rough quality to it, but it captured Julius’s dignified bearing, the rather frightening angle of Licht’s expressionless profile, the imposing presence of the dragon, and the atmosphere of the dungeon with real character and flair.
“I wonder if she could do a smaller version I could carry around?”
“Pfft—”
“Hah? What’s so funny?”
Someone among the adventurers had burst out laughing, and Thor glared around the room. Then someone broke through the stiffening air by laughing out loud.
“Ahahahaha! Hahahahaha!”
“…Sieg? Why are you laughing?”
Thor didn’t glare at Sieg—he just furrowed his brow in bemused confusion.
Sieg wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, still laughing with unclouded delight.
“Because that’s the exact same thing Sister Karen said last year!”
Sieg’s remark was the spark—and those who remembered the previous year’s New Year’s Festival, nobles included, began to laugh despite themselves, while Thor stood there blinking in total bewilderment.
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