Chapter 54

Retribution

The beginning of a new chapter was apparently never guaranteed to go smoothly.

Inside the manor they had entered at Grand Duke Aslan’s invitation, Aiden looked around with an uneasy expression. They had been guided inside without difficulty, but something about the atmosphere deeply bothered him.

Everyone moving through the manor seemed distinctly unwelcoming toward outsiders. More importantly, not a single person seated in the hall watching them looked friendly.

Among them, a few specific groups stood out even more strongly.

“I don’t like the way they’re looking at us,” Katya murmured with a bright smile.

“Please endure it,” Aiden answered weakly.

Katya was fundamentally a walking time bomb, so hearing words like that from her never failed to make him nervous.

‘Though I can understand why she’s annoyed.’

This time, however, the other side’s attitude was poor enough that Aiden could hardly blame her. He scanned the people glaring in their direction. They were all retainers of Grand Duke Aslan, but they belonged to different competing factions within his household. Their clothing made the political divisions obvious.

‘Damian Aslan and Liza Aslan…’

The Grand Duke’s eldest son and second daughter were the central figures in the succession struggle currently giving the entire Empire a massive headache. Neither heir seemed to be present in person, but their subordinates were glaring at Aiden’s party with open hostility.

The enormous table between the factions was so wide that they could barely make out one another’s faces across it, yet the animosity remained perfectly clear.

“They’re probably wondering why outsiders are interfering in another family’s affairs,” Noel sat beside Aiden and muttered with narrowed eyes. Given the sharp looks being directed at them, her own expression was not particularly gentle either. “Mr. Aiden and I are basically perceived as members of His Majesty’s faction. They’re likely wary that this could become political interference.”

“…Isn’t the Night of the Hunt about to happen?” Aiden asked.

Whatever the internal circumstances of the territory might be, Aiden and the others had been invited specifically to help with an approaching disaster. If these people still intended to fight over personal interests with something that serious right in front of them, Aiden had little to say.

“That would be the reasonable response. Unfortunately…” Noel released a short sigh before explaining further, “…the retainers of House Aslan have never enjoyed a good reputation in matters like this.”

Self-preservation, protecting one’s position, and squabbling over petty interests—those were said to be the greatest problems eating away at the famous martial House Aslan, and their bad reputation for it had already spread throughout the Empire.

While Aiden considered that, a loud voice rang out from across the table.

“You must have had a difficult journey!”

The speaker was a man with an impressive goatee. Judging by the insignia on his shoulder, he belonged to Damian Aslan, the eldest son. Because the table was so large, he had to raise his voice, which made the sarcasm in his words even easier to hear.

“You must be tremendously busy. What brings someone as distinguished as Lionheart all the way out to a rural place like this?”

The real meaning behind the question was painfully obvious: What are people like you doing crawling into our territory?

“…” Noel tilted her head with an expression that practically said she had expected exactly this. “My fiancé received an invitation from the Grand Duke. The Night of the Hunt is approaching, so we came to provide support.”

The man with the goatee changed his expression immediately. So did nearly everyone around him.

Her sentence meant that the central figure in this visit was not Noel, but Aiden. In other words, the Grand Duke was far more interested in Lionheart’s consort than Lionheart herself.

Every gaze shifted to Aiden at once. The goateed man looked him up and down before offering a single short assessment.

“That fellow?”

The dismissive laugh hardened Noel’s expression, while Katya’s face twitched much more violently.

‘It’s understandable.’

From Aiden’s perspective, the reaction was not particularly strange. Unlike Noel or Katya, he was not someone whose face was widely known, nor was that something he enjoyed. Still, there was one concern Aiden could not ignore.

“…Your Highness.”

“I know, I know. I’m not going to cause trouble,” Katya answered in a flat voice. Her face did not show any obvious anger. “I’m fine. For now.”

From Aiden’s perspective, she had already begun looking very much like a bomb with a burning fuse.

“Well, if the Grand Duke invited you, I’m sure he had a reason,” the goateed man remarked, apparently having no intention of pursuing the matter further.

Aiden likewise tried to prevent the conflict from escalating. “We have no intention of interfering in your family’s internal affairs. We intend to resolve only the issue the Grand Duke requested, as peacefully as possible, and then leave.”

“Ah, of course.” If the man had not cut him off before he finished, Aiden might have maintained his polite attitude. “Of course you do.”

“…”

The sarcasm in the man’s response was unmistakable. Aiden narrowed his eyes at the continuing provocation. No matter how he looked at the situation, it was becoming clear that they would not be able to keep smiling at one another until the end.

✦ ✦ ✦

The atmosphere in the meeting did not improve at all. There was no open physical clash, but every word and gesture became sharper as time passed.

“Could we at least receive information about the demon beasts that frequently appear in the territory?” Noel asked.

“That is classified information. It would be difficult to provide it to outsiders.”

“…Then how much support can we expect in supplies and personnel?”

“Why not discuss that directly with the Grand Duke? I’m afraid I wouldn’t know.”

“…”

This man was remarkably talented at being irritating.

With the conversation continuing in that fashion, Aiden found it increasingly difficult to keep quiet. The moods of Noel and Katya, who had accompanied him, were also deteriorating by the minute.

“…At this rate, it will be difficult to receive any cooperation,” Noel leaned toward Aiden and whispered under her breath. The anger in her voice was anything but mild. “I understand they’re busy fighting over the family, but this is excessive. Protecting the safety of civilians is the most basic duty of those who hold privilege.”

Aiden could only agree with Noel’s assessment of the situation. He tilted his head in displeasure. “I’m getting irritated too.”

A massive demon beast incident was about to begin. Watching these people focus on protecting their own positions and obstructing outsiders under those circumstances was genuinely ugly. That was even more true when Aiden considered what was coming.

‘This isn’t an ordinary incident.’

Even in the original game, the demon beast crisis had thrown the territory into complete chaos because it was too large to handle without outside assistance. If they treated helpers this way merely because they were outsiders, immense difficulties were inevitable.

Aiden swept a contemptuous gaze over the people still making it obvious that they did not welcome his party.

‘The prince was better than this.’

At least the prince had possessed the basic qualities of a ruler in abundance. The people gathered here struck Aiden as little more than parasites. They were so blinded by personal gain that they could not even comprehend what was approaching. They cared more about preserving their own power than about innocent lives being placed at risk.

That meant there was no particular reason to keep treating them like reasonable people.

Aiden tapped his fingers against the table and began thinking. Information about his priorities and objectives passed through his mind. As always, his two largest goals were simple: resolve the Main Quest and copy the skills of important characters.

If he wanted to accomplish both, then the action he needed to take here was becoming obvious.

“…”

Aiden ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Lately, he had begun to feel that his own personality was changing. Ridiculous, insane ideas like this should not be coming to him so naturally.

“Sir Noel.”

At the sudden call, Noel opened her eyes slightly wider and turned toward him. The moment she heard his next words, her expression stiffened.

“Do you trust me?”

“…” Unease flashed violently through Noel’s eyes. “…I do.”

“That answer took a very long time.”

“Put your hand over your heart and think back over everything you’ve done so far.”

“…”

“Why do you think it took me so long to answer?”

Aiden had no good response to that entirely fair accusation. Once he started causing trouble, he did it spectacularly enough that even Katya had admitted he was merciless when making a scene.

“Please trust me. I have a plan.”

“…”

“So would you follow my lead without resisting?”

“…”

The longer Aiden spoke, the more worried Noel looked. “…Try it, then.”

Even so, she gave permission more readily than expected. She clearly disliked the idea, but intended to follow along anyway.

Aiden tilted his head, surprised by how quickly she agreed, then stood up. He had permission now, so presumably he could proceed.

He gathered several bottles of wine from the table into his arms and walked over to the man with the goatee.

“…If you’re inviting me to drink with you, I’ll decline. We are not close enough that I have any desire to share alcohol.”

Aiden stared at the man’s sneering smile and tilted his head. “I don’t particularly want to drink with you either.”

“…Pardon?”

“I was thinking while I walked over here. If you people had been even slightly less rude, I might have felt a little guilty.”

“What are you—”

“But I don’t think I need to.”

Before the man could finish questioning him, Aiden swung one of the wine bottles with his entire body.

CRASH!

The bottle smashed directly into the top of the man’s head. Glass fragments exploded in every direction. Red wine—and blood even redder than the wine—sprayed across the table.

As the goateed man collapsed unconscious, the people around him began screaming.

“W-what in the world are you doing?!”

A second wine bottle came crashing down on the head of the man who had shouted. He collapsed right beside the first victim.

“This is tyranny! Who allowed a lunatic like this into the territory—”

CRASH!

Another man went down immediately after impact.

“Guards! Call the guar—”

CRASH!

A fourth man collapsed before he could finish shouting.

“…”

“…”

A heavy, suffocating silence swallowed the entire hall in an instant.

After knocking several people unconscious in a matter of seconds, Aiden looked around with the same faintly tired expression he usually wore.

“Does anyone else want to shout?”

“…”

“Anyone else want to be rude?”

“…”

“No?”

“…”

Everyone’s terrified gaze shifted to the remaining wine bottles still cradled securely in Aiden’s arms.

His tone remained extraordinarily calm despite what he had just done. That calm made his intention even clearer: anyone who spoke carelessly would be introduced to one of those bottles headfirst.

“I have a few questions now, and I’d appreciate honest answers.”

“…”

“I’ll interpret silence as agreement.”

While everyone stared at Aiden—who was politely saying something completely insane—Noel rubbed both hands down her face.

“…Mr. Aiden,” her voice trembled as she barely managed to speak. “…Didn’t you tell me you had a good idea and ask me to trust you?”

Aiden nodded at Noel, who clearly could not understand what part of this violence she was supposed to trust. “It’s all right, Sir Noel.”

“…What exactly is all right?”

“With people like this, you have to keep charging until they can’t even make a sound.”

“Pardon?”

“What I mean is that I haven’t even properly started yet.”

Noel stared at him in silence. The longer this went on, the more this man seemed to be turning into a complete madman.