Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Four: A Son and a Daughter
“Hey, you’re kind of annoyed at me, aren’t you? What’s that about?”
Stopped by Sepl, Harald swept his eyes around to take in his surroundings without turning his head. The corridors of the annex were deathly quiet and somewhat dim. Candles and magical lamps were being kept to a minimum.
Using more wouldn’t bother Karen or the Ehlertt household in the slightest. But Harald was strict about any matters that would raise the children’s standard of living too high.
“No one’s nearby.”
“…As expected of an adventurer. Though only within the range a D-rank can detect, I imagine.”
“Sure, I couldn’t tell if a high-ranker was around.”
“It’s not so much you as your wife that I’m fed up with. And, by extension, I’m fed up with you, her husband, for failing to keep her under control.”
“Ah.”
“Could you please not look as though you understand before I’ve said anything?”
Harald frowned.
“She has interfered with my work time and time again. She has even criticized the way I do things. I have no mercy for those who oppose Lady Karen, and I have no intention of showing favor to those who stop making an effort and give up simply because becoming an alchemist seems out of reach.”
“Yeah, Lily wouldn’t stand for that quietly.”
Not a word of objection—just a nod of complete understanding. Harald said in irritation:
“Even though it is Lady Karen’s wish, to be perfectly honest, your wife is not someone I would want to work alongside… I have not said that to her directly, of course.”
“So that’s why you’ve been taking it out on me? Well… fair enough, sorry about her.”
“She is an entirely ordinary woman, after all. I would have no idea what to do if she started crying—though I understand that I am the one who needs to reconsider my attitude.”
“Oh?”
“This is providence orchestrated through Lady Karen’s hand.”
Sepl’s expression had grown somewhat strained, but Harald either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and continued:
“In this world where those without magical power appear to be abandoned, the goddess nevertheless left a path to salvation for us as well. It was simply that in my foolishness, I had not seen it. In the same way, Lady Karen has left a path of salvation in the form of your wife—and even though I cannot understand it, I do understand that she is someone Lady Karen needs, in a way that is different from me.”
“O-Okay…”
Sepl nodded, slightly put off by Harald’s dreamy delivery.
“Regardless, I will never compromise—and so in situations where I simply cannot give ground, your wife may be hurt by it. If you dislike that, it falls to you to protect her.”
“Well, she’s an adventurers’ district woman, so she doesn’t exactly get hurt easily; at least, not unless she’s dealing with someone like me. Lily grew up in the same place as Little Karen, too.”
Harald fell momentarily silent, and Sepl continued:
“But—don’t go comparing Little Karen to the goddess.”
This time, Harald made his displeasure plainly visible.
“How I regard Lady Karen is no concern of yours.”
“Little Karen’s an ordinary girl, too. Just like Lily.”
“Lady Karen is not ordinary.”
“Don’t lean on her too hard. She isn’t your mother.”
“I have never thought of Lady Karen in that way!?”
Harald’s voice rose. "Keep it down," Sepl said, plugging his ears, while beside him Harald put his head in his hands, muttering, "someone other than Lady Karen has pointed this out to me as well—could it possibly mean…?"—and then the sense of someone’s presence abruptly increased.
The presence increased so obviously that Sepl finally noticed, but Harald, still head in hands and oblivious, heard the newcomer speak:
“If you are like a son to Karen, I suppose you would be like a son to me as well.”
“Wha—!? Master Julius!?”
Julius looked down at Harald, who had gasped and looked up, with a measuring gaze.
“If Karen approves, I wouldn’t be opposed—though you are rather large for a son.”
“I. Do not. Regard her. In that way!”
“If Karen sees it that way, your intentions on the matter are of limited relevance to me—anyway, Karen is summoning you, Harald.”
“…!”
Harald’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, his eyes wide. With so much he wanted to say, and yet Karen calling for him—Harald could not set it aside for other matters.
“If Lady Karen is calling for me, I will go—but…!”
“You also have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
Harald looked puzzled. Julius looked down at him and smiled.
“Karen says you’ll surely find this person nostalgic.”
“I appreciate Lady Karen’s words, but I have an extremely bad feeling about this…”
Julius laughed, looking down at Harald’s pained expression, then turned to Sepl.
“We’ll go to Karen, so I’d like to ask you to keep an eye on the children. Is that alright?”
“Sure, of course.”
“—So, I take it Karen is like a daughter to you?”
“Well—presumptuous as it may be.”
Julius fixed Sepl with a smile that made cold sweat break out on him, then deepened that smile and took his leave with Harald.
Once Julius had gone, Sepl let out a breath.
“How long was he listening, I wonder?”
Sepl, unable to sense Julius’s presence at all, wiped the cold sweat that the pressure of a seasoned warrior—even a D-rank adventurer could feel that much—had drawn out of him. He then headed to the annex, where his wife was as well, to watch over the children in Harald’s stead.
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