Chapter 52: Commotion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 52: Commotion
In the midst of the chaos, being surrounded by such amateurs actually allowed Aiden to calmly assess the situation.
“Don’t try to be a hero! Get down on the ground!”
Despite the robbers shouting at the top of their lungs, Aiden couldn’t help but notice something off about them.
…Their voices sound young?
The thought tickled the back of his mind. It wasn’t just the high pitch; their voices were thin, practically screaming that the speakers hadn’t even reached adulthood.
A quick sweep of the room confirmed his suspicions. Most of them possessed incredibly frail builds. The limbs poking out from their ragged clothes were scrawny, and they were practically trembling on their feet.
…No matter how he looked at it, these were not professional criminals.
Huh.
A chilling realization crept up his spine. His gaze shifted, lingering on the guns in their hands.
Worn-out revolvers. They were battered, rusted, and clearly hadn’t been fired in years. If someone said they’d been scavenged from a back-alley trash heap, Aiden would have believed it.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning the weapons carefully.
…It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for.
“…”
Aiden squeezed his eyes shut. Now that he knew, he couldn’t just sit back and pretend ignorance. Especially since, of all the people in the restaurant, one of the robbers was approaching Katya.
“What are you doing? I said get down!”
“Hmm…” Katya casually twirled a fork between her fingers, staring intently at the shouting boy. “And if I refuse?”
“…”
“Are you going to shoot me?”
The robber let out a hollow, forced laugh at her audacity. “If you’re begging for death, I won’t stop you.”
“Hmm.”
“Get down. This is your last warning.”
“Mhm.”
“…”
Faced with Katya’s utterly nonchalant responses and the continuous spinning of her fork, the robber was left completely speechless.
“…Hyung, is there a problem over there?” called out one of the other boys, haphazardly waving his gun to keep the cowering customers down.
His voice trembled. He was trying desperately to hide it, but Aiden caught it instantly. Despite being the ones holding the restaurant hostage, the robbers were the ones who were terrified.
“No, nothing.”
The boy acting as the leader—the one pointing his gun at Katya—cocked the hammer and shoved the barrel closer to her forehead.
It was a hair-trigger situation, yet the smile never faded from Katya’s lips.
“Aren’t you going to shoot?”
Then, her eyes darkened, sinking into an abyssal depth.
Divine Power began to condense around her body. The surrounding air heated up rapidly.
“…Your Highness?” Noel spoke up from behind, her voice laced with disbelief. “What on earth are you doing?”
“…Is that really what’s important right now?”
Boiling Divine Power began to pour from Katya’s body in shimmering streams.
“If you’re not going to shoot, then I’ll go first—”
Hearing that, Aiden immediately took a deep breath and stood. His decision was swift, and his actions were even faster.
Katya, on the verge of unleashing her Divine Power, flinched and halted her cast.
“…Point that at me.”
Aiden had stepped directly between Katya and the robber. The tip of his finger rested right against the barrel of the gun.
“…?”
Katya glared at him, her expression screaming, What on earth do you think you’re doing? But Aiden ignored her, locking eyes with the masked robber.
While the boy stood frozen in a daze, Aiden grabbed the gun’s barrel and forcefully pressed it against his own forehead, right between his brows.
Noel and Katya both gasped in horror, bolting upright. The relaxed amusement that had painted their faces just moments ago was instantly replaced by stark terror.
“What do you think you’re doing…!”
“Aiden, have you lost your mind?!”
With those shouts, terrifying supernatural power erupted from both women simultaneously. The density was absurd compared to before—a crushing pressure that made the robbers, and any customers still clinging to consciousness, lose the strength in their legs and collapse.
“H-Hieeeek!” one of the robbers shrieked, wildly swinging his gun toward Noel and Katya in sheer panic.
In that split second, Aiden’s voice tore through the heavy air.
“Keep the gun on me!”
“W-What…!”
“Point it at me if you want to live!”
“…”
His tone was so absolute, so resolute, that even Noel and Katya faltered, their surging power stuttering for a fraction of a second.
Seizing that momentary lapse, Aiden spoke with calm authority.
“Dame Noel, Your Highness, you see the gun pointed at me right now. One wrong move and I’m dead. Stand down.”
“What on earth are you—”
“Please, stand down. I’m begging you.”
It was polite, but his voice was low and grounded, carrying an undeniable weight.
Meeting his gaze, both women flinched. Aiden’s eyes, usually half-lidded and weighed down by perpetual fatigue, were piercingly sharp and clear.
“…”
“…”
As Noel and Katya silently reined in their auras, Aiden slowly reached into his coat. He moved with deliberate slowness, making it abundantly clear he harbored no hostile intent, until he pulled out a leather wallet.
It was quite thick—stuffed with various funds he had recently received from Noel.
Aiden slowly held it out to the trembling leader.
“Take it.”
“…”
“Hurry up. Take it. And don’t touch anyone else’s things.”
Still keeping the robber’s gun pressed firmly against his own forehead, Aiden shoved the wallet forward insistently.
As the boy hesitantly took it, Aiden’s voice dropped into a calm, quiet cadence.
“If you go straight down 4th Street, you’ll find a slum shelter. You can still find work over there. Live honestly. If you want to keep feeding the kids depending on you.”
“…”
“Living like this will only get you killed early. If you don’t want to leave your family behind with regrets, listen to me.”
“…”
“Go. Hurry.”
“…”
“I said go!”
Flinching violently at Aiden’s sudden shout, the robber clutched the wallet and scrambled backward. He hurriedly gathered the other boys, who were still dazed and hesitating, and they fled the restaurant like frightened mice.
…Inside the restaurant, it felt as though a hurricane had just swept through. Only a hollow, ringing silence remained.
Everyone stared blankly, their eyes darting between Aiden and the door.
Sigh…
Letting out a deep breath, Aiden slumped back into his seat.
…I really hate standing out.
Though he had thrown himself into danger multiple times to earn Skill Copy Tickets, putting himself on the front lines so aggressively drained him completely. There was a limit to playing the hero when he had zero aptitude for it.
“What was that just now?” Katya asked, resting her chin on her hand as she leaned over the table.
Her face was a smooth, expressionless mask. Knowing her personality, Aiden recognized it instantly: this was her angry face. She was deeply displeased with his stunt.
“What were you thinking, doing something like—”
“…They weren’t even real robbers to begin with.”
Aiden hadn’t acted out of sudden madness. He wiped his face, his voice laced with exhaustion.
“The cylinder was empty.”
“What?”
“It was an empty gun. They probably picked up broken scraps and patched them together to make them look real.”
They were just desperate kids trying to make a quick buck by passing off fake guns as real ones. Instead of targeting a bank or a wealthy estate, they were bottom-of-the-barrel small-timers, aiming only for the cash register of a local restaurant.
“…It’s a common method in the slums.”
These fragments of knowledge still lingered in Aiden’s memory.
“One wrong move and you’re dead. It’s a gamble only those on the absolute brink of starvation would take. They didn’t do it because they wanted to.”
Seeing how terrified they looked throughout the entire ordeal only solidified his theory. The one called “Hyung” was likely the eldest of a group of orphans who had banded together to survive. Kids who lived hand-to-mouth, slept in alleys without roofs, and barely survived the freezing nights by huddling together for warmth.
“Still, a crime is a crime. I have no intention of defending them. But…” Aiden scratched his head roughly, grumbling, “…We can at least give a guy who’s desperate to feed the kids depending on him one last chance. He’s just trying to keep his family alive.”
“…”
“And since they only took my wallet, they won’t have to worry about anyone else holding a grudge.”
Katya, who had been listening quietly, tilted her head. “How do you know all of that?”
“…”
After a brief silence, Aiden narrowed his eyes and replied softly, “Because if things had gone slightly differently, I might have done something similar in the past.”
Katya’s brow furrowed, silently demanding to know what he meant. However, Noel, who had been listening quietly from the side, widened her eyes.
—That boy and Cisella… they were actually picked up from the streets. We’ve never pried into their pasts. I think that’s why we’ve managed to get along so well.
—T-That’s all because of me. They both had no choice but to do it…
She recalled hearing those words from Aiden’s family. That this young man was a war orphan who had begged on the streets. That no one truly knew where or how he had lived before he was taken in.
…Once again.
She realized she knew absolutely nothing about this man. What he had endured, what he had experienced to become the person sitting in front of her today. She was completely in the dark.
“…”
Chewing on those thoughts, Noel quietly bit her lip.
This man—
Just where did he come from, and what had he been doing? She was already endlessly curious about the origin of his abilities—how he could effortlessly manipulate her Qi, handle Divine Power, and wield the legendary techniques of the Knight of Dawn without a second thought.
But now, Noel was just as desperate to uncover his ‘true past,’ the painful history hidden beneath those dazzling skills.
What kind of person are you, Aiden?
While Noel pondered this, Aiden was still scanning the room with narrowed eyes.
“…By the way, it is strange.”
“What is?”
“No matter how desperate they were, they wouldn’t normally come all the way to a flashy, high-end district like this. Usually, they’d just rob a small corner store.”
As Aiden spoke, heavy, measured footsteps approached their table. Someone pulled out the chair directly across from him and sat down.
Staring at the newcomer, Aiden muttered, “…Unless someone intentionally egged them on.”
“An interesting interpretation.”
It was an elderly gentleman. He had broad shoulders and a rugged scar running diagonally across his face. Numerous military medals were pinned proudly to his tailored suit.
The moment they recognized him, Noel’s posture snapped rigidly to attention. Katya’s eyes widened in rare surprise. It was a testament to just how famous this figure truly was.
Though he hadn’t introduced himself yet, Aiden already knew exactly who this man was. Not because of his fame, but…
— System Message
▶ Affinity with target ‘Grand Duke Aslan’ increases.
▶ Bond Level has increased!
▶ You can copy 1 skill!
…Because the system was blatantly telling him.
“What on earth are you doing here?” Aiden asked.
“Recruiting.” The elderly man grinned at the question.
The Northern Grand Duke, Randall Dreyfus Aslan.
“And you, young man, have just passed. Congratulations.”
The oldest and highest-ranking noble of the Empire curled the corners of his lips into a sharp smile.