Chapter Three Hundred and Eleven: Day of Blessings 2
“He’s the younger brother of a baroness within the Ehlertt territory—he is hardly an outsider anymore!”
Alban noticed Karen’s gaze and gave her a nod. His knights followed suit, raising their voices in support.
“Indeed! Even if some find it hard to believe that Miss Karen participated in the black dragon subjugation party, it is an undeniable fact that she is the elder sister of an adventurer of A-rank caliber who conquered the thirtieth floor!”
“It’s practically the same as Ehlertt gaining an A-rank adventurer.”
“As the saying goes, if you wish to slay a dullahan, you begin by taking down its mount. Surely you can see what His Excellency the Earl intended by awarding Lady Karen a title!”
The nobles would likely have accepted it without issue if Licht or Julius had received the title. Because it was Karen, they had trouble accepting it. Even the nobles who recognized Karen as a capable alchemist must have found it difficult to swallow. In a world where those who fought—those who were strong—were the ones rewarded, Karen was an alchemist who could not fight.
And so Thor was casually being used as a bargaining chip to get the nobles to accept Karen’s presence.
“Umm…”
Karen’s expression grew increasingly flustered. She was grateful for Alban and the other knights stepping in to defend her, but Thor had his own standing to consider. She was just about to try and put a stop to it when Thor, who had climbed the central staircase and now stood before Helfried, turned to address the hall.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go putting words in my mouth.”
Thor said it coolly. His voice wasn’t raised, yet it carried across the room with an odd clarity, and Karen could only smile wryly and think, “Well, that’s fair.”
There was no trace of polite speech in Thor’s words. He had used respectful language when first meeting Helfried at the Ehlertt family’s residence in the royal capital—but there was no longer any need for that.
“We’re adventurers who’ll be A-rank once the paperwork’s done. Just because Sis became a noble of Ehlertt doesn’t mean I belong to Ehlertt.”
A-rank adventurers no longer needed to bow their heads to nobles. Thor swept his gaze across the hall, silencing the room, then turned to face Helfried.
“Your Excellency, if you’re going to give us some kind of reward for clearing the thirtieth floor—could we change it to something I actually want?”
“—That depends on what it is, but we will do our best to honor the merits of your achievement.”
Helfried swallowed audibly. Thor stated his wish without any particular fuss:
“Then, could you get an Adventurers’ Guild set up in Sis’s territory?”
“Set one up?”
“Not a branch office—a full guild branch. Branch offices don’t allow membership registration. Get a proper guild branch established, and put some support behind Sis’s territory to make it happen.”
“…Membership registration?”
Helfried’s puzzled expression slowly gave way to widening surprise. Thor grinned at him and gave a nod.
“Yeah. If Sis’s territory gets an Adventurers’ Guild, I want to transfer my registration there!”
A moment of silence.
Then the room erupted.
“Ehlertt has actually done it—they’ve actually secured an A-rank adventurer!”
Simply because an adventurer belonged to a territory’s Adventurers’ Guild branch did not mean that the adventurer could be controlled at will. However, it certainly made it easier to request their services. Adventurers generally would not completely ignore the wishes of the lord whose territory housed their guild. In fact, if relations became that strained, the adventurer would simply transfer elsewhere. Just having a high-ranking adventurer registered with the territory brought prestige.
Above all, a guild with a renowned adventurer registered drew other adventurers in. That, in turn, kept the territory’s dungeon naturally stable and made the land a more livable place.
“Hey—I just said that’s not what I meant! I’m only affiliating with Sis—just Sis, got it?!”
Thor glared at the people of Ehlertt celebrating around him, then turned to Karen with a grin.
He had gone along with Alban’s argument to lend Karen more standing. By making it clear that he was affiliating with Karen and not Ehlertt, he was making it easier for Karen to be accepted.
“If that is truly the wish of you and the Crimson Thunder, I could ask for nothing more—but are all of you certain about this?”
Helfried asked to confirm, and the members of the Crimson Thunder nodded as if they had arranged it beforehand.
“Very well. As Earl of Ehlertt, I will do everything in my power to see your wish fulfilled.”
Another wave of cheers went up.
Whether it was for Thor’s sake or anything else… Karen had been accepted, at least for now.
By everyone present in this hall.
The moment that realization settled over her, the strength drained from Karen’s legs.
“Karen, are you all right?”
Julius caught her before she could fall and asked quietly. Karen gave a small nod.
“I think I was nervous… I thought I’d be fine no matter what anyone said, but…”
There was no way everyone would accept her.
Karen was a commoner. Her original magical power had been D-rank. When the people of Ehlertt first came to know of her, her alchemist rank had been E. And on top of all that, she had received a title and land simply for having been present at the defeat of a monster she hadn’t landed a single blow on.
She did not even consider it unfair that some people could not accept that. But Karen had a wish of her own.
“I wanted this special day with you, Julius… to be celebrated by everyone…!”
Tears spilled from Karen’s eyes, and she looked up at Julius with a weeping, watery smile.
“So many people celebrated us… I’m so glad… I’m so glad, Julius…!”
Julius stared at her for a long moment as she laughed through her tears, and then he nodded.
“…Yes. So am I. Truly, truly—…!”
A tear slipped from Julius’s golden eyes.
He noticed it himself and moved to hide it, looking faintly bewildered—and Karen, seeing him, cupped his face in both hands to cover his tears for him. The face that was beautiful even with tears shimmering in his eyes drew closer, and though it wasn’t quite what she had intended, Karen smiled and closed her eyes.
The curious gazes of the noble ladies pressed in from all sides. The young misses let out delighted cries. The adventurers called out their teasing.
Whatever the reason behind it, what surrounded them now was pure, unadulterated blessing.
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