Chapter Three Hundred and Nine: Reward
“Those who contributed most to the Ehlertt territory this past year—step forward.”
“Is it really all right for me to go up there too?”
Karen hesitated, genuinely uncertain whether she was supposed to be included, and Julius let out a quiet laugh:
“Of course it is. Let us go together, Karen.”
“…All right.”
Karen let Julius escort her to stand before Helfried. Licht, who had been seated down in the guest section, climbed the central staircase with a grumble.
“Am I really the right person to be standing next to this couple?”
If anything, Licht was the one looking off into the distance, his confidence faltering. Other than Julius, he had been the only one who had taken part in the life-or-death battle against the black dragon. Even if Karen didn’t count, having been unconscious for it, Licht most certainly did.
“In recognition of your achievement in defeating the black dragon, I hereby grant the sphere of influence of the Forest’s Edge Dungeon as a territory, and bestow the title of baron upon its principal owner under the authority of the Ehlertt Earldom.”
The hall erupted in excitement. Normally, even if someone conquered an unexplored dungeon bordering another territory, they would not be granted the surrounding land. This was a reward for slaying the black dragon—the birth of a new lord, a dream held by every noble and an ambition harbored by adventurers alike. Karen clapped along with the rest, feeling rather as though it had nothing to do with her.
“How you choose to divide this reward is up to you, however—”
“I already hold the Zenkel territory, so I must decline the position of lord.”
Licht declined immediately. Perhaps the Zenkel territory was too far from the Forest’s Edge Dungeon.
That meant Julius would become the lord, then. Julius was a noble, but until now, he had held no title—and naturally, no territory to his name. He was about to become a noble with both land and rank.
Karen was not a noble, but she was the daughter and sister of adventurers who had always dreamed of making it big. She was certain Julius must be overjoyed. Ready to celebrate him, Karen prepared herself with a beaming smile, poised to burst into enthusiastic applause.
“Then, Julius—”
“I must also decline, Brother. It is true that Licht and I were the ones who defeated the black dragon—but it was Karen who fulfilled the black dragon’s trial.”
“Then, Karen. From this day forward, you shall bear the name Baroness Himmel. Himmel is a word that means sky.”
“…Huh? Excuse me?”
Karen hadn’t yet processed what was happening, and her pale blue—sky-colored—eyes were blinking rapidly. Helfried looked down at her, gave a quiet smile, and turned his gaze to the hall.
“Let us raise a toast to the birth of a new noble!”
A wave of applause broke out. From the adventurers’ side in particular, Thor’s whistle rang out bright and lively.
Karen stood there with her mouth open for a moment, then pulled herself together and said in a rush:
“Lord Helfried!? I… I couldn’t possibly be a lord! I have no idea how to manage a territory!”
“There is no need to worry. I will provide a deputy to oversee the administration.”
“B-But the dungeon has to be managed too, or a Great Collapse Stampede will happen!”
“It is a dungeon that has undergone periodic Great Collapses already. The land has no inhabitants at present, so there is nothing to concern yourself with for the time being.”
“But—”
“Land where people can live is a precious thing, Karen.”
Karen was momentarily thrown by Helfried’s words. She knew that much herself. Long ago, many people had fought wars over dungeons and their spheres of influence. Wars were rare now because the scars of the Dark Age remained—a time when conflict reduced the number of capable fighters, dungeon conquest stalled, and Great Collapses erupted across the land.
In this world, monsters could appear anywhere without warning. The sole exception was the area surrounding a dungeon—the sphere of influence where the dungeon’s effects extended. Only within those spheres could people live in safety.
The population had been growing steadily ever since. That was why this world no longer had prisons. Space was too valuable to waste on holding criminals, so offenders were either bound by contract magic and put to work or executed.
“Yes, that’s true, but what does that have to do with…?”
“Wherever you send the children you have gathered, if the local residents learn the circumstances under which they were collected, those children will not be welcomed there.”
“That… that’s…”
Children with no magical power, struggling to get by even within a dungeon’s sphere of influence. In a world where nearly every form of work assumed the presence of magical ability, even finding employment was difficult for them.
Criminals who couldn’t work were put to death. Then what of children who were expected to struggle to find work even after they grew up—she didn’t want to think about it. But it was a reality Karen was going to have to face.
“It would be best if your plan succeeded sooner rather than later. But if it does not, or if success takes longer than expected—do you not think it would be a sound choice to have a territory where you hold the authority to decide who may settle there?”
Helfried’s voice was so soft that it was almost strange how clearly it reached Karen above the noise of the crowded hall. He wore a small smile, his expression serene, and the gaze he turned down on her was almost warm.
And yet the words struck Karen like a blow.
“…Thank you for your consideration, Lord Helfried.”
She was halfway certain this endeavor would succeed. That certainty held within it something like intuition—the kind that came from having ascended the steps.
If this were a matter that affected only her own life, she would have been fine either way. If the one being dragged into it was Julius, they already had the kind of relationship where she could laugh and say, “Then come along for the ride.” But Karen had not even met the children whose lives she intended to draw into her own. Could she give them enough reason to trust her with their lives?
She was a B-rank alchemist. That, and nothing more.
“I am not telling you that you must bear responsibility for the entirety of those children’s lives. A territory is sustained by the strong. Those without the power to fight merely live off the benefits the strong create, and abandoning those who fail to become strong and expelling them from the territory is not something for which a lord would be condemned.”
That was how this world worked. Upon coming of age, people joined one guild or another, were ranked, and lived their lives accordingly. Depending on the time and the circumstances, the lower ranks in lower-tier work could be cut loose for the good of the territory. It was the natural judgment of a lord—a right, even a duty—and no one would fault them for it.
And yet—
“But I thought you would care about it.”
“Yes, I care. I would lose sleep over it terribly!”
“I thought as much.”
Karen straightened her back before the quietly smiling Helfried. Then, calling to mind every lesson in etiquette Alise had taught her, she gave him her deepest bow.
“I humbly accept the lordship of the Himmel territory within the Ehlertt Earldom.”
“I look forward to what you will accomplish, Karen.”
Even if there were children who could not become alchemists, becoming a lord meant she could build them a place to belong. Not a temporary refuge granted out of pity, out of charity, out of scraps—but a real place.
If she could make her territory into that kind of place, it would become living proof of the world Karen was striving toward.
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