Chapter 54: Retribution
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 54: Retribution
…And as expected, the start was anything but smooth.
Inside the mansion he had entered at Grand Duke Aslan’s invitation, Aiden cast a dubious eye over his surroundings. He had been guided inside, but…
The atmosphere is a bit…
Everyone was on edge, weren’t they?
Setting aside the generally unwelcoming mood from those moving about the mansion, not a single person seated in the hall staring at them showed even a hint of goodwill. Among them, some practically radiated hostility.
“I don’t like the way they’re looking at us,” Katya muttered, though her face was still smiling.
“Just bear with it,” Aiden replied weakly.
Since she was essentially a walking time bomb, her comments always left him feeling endlessly anxious.
Not that I don’t understand, though.
This time, however, the other party’s attitude was so atrocious that he couldn’t bring himself to blame her. With that thought, Aiden scanned the people glaring at them with narrowed, hostile eyes. They were all retainers of Grand Duke Aslan, but their attire revealed they belonged to different factions.
Damian Aslan, Liza Aslan…
The Grand Duke’s eldest son and second daughter. They were the main players in the succession struggle that had the entire Empire nursing a headache. Although the pair themselves weren’t present, their subordinates were, and they were all directing looks of intense hostility toward Aiden’s party.
They sat across a table so wide it felt like an ocean, far enough apart that they could barely make out each other’s faces, yet the hostile atmosphere was crystal clear.
“They probably feel like we’re uninvited guests barging into their family affairs,” Dame Noel murmured beside Aiden, her eyes narrowing. Receiving such hostile glares, her own demeanor was hardly gentle. “Fundamentally, they see Aiden and me as part of the Emperor’s faction. They’re likely on guard against political interference.”
“…Isn’t the Night of the Hunt about to begin?”
Regardless of the territory’s internal squabbles, they were guests invited to help with an impending disaster. If these people were still this eager to fight over power in the face of such a critical event, Aiden was at a loss for words.
“That would be the sensible way to think. However…” Dame Noel let out a soft sigh. “…the retainers of the Aslan Grand Ducal House have never had a good reputation in that regard.”
Self-preservation. Protecting their own interests. Factional infighting. It was a flaw so notorious throughout the Empire that it was known as the single greatest cancer gnawing away at the prestigious martial house of Aslan.
As he was mulling this over, a voice called out from across the table.
“You must have had an arduous journey!”
It was a man with an impressive goatee. Judging by the epaulets on his shoulders, he was one of the eldest son Damian Aslan’s men. He had to raise his voice to be heard across the distance, which only made his underlying intent more obvious.
“Busy as you must be with matters great and small, what brings an esteemed figure such as a Lionheart to a backwater like this?”
The sarcastic subtext—Why the hell are you crawling all the way out here?—was blatant.
“…”
With a slight tilt of her head that seemed to say, ‘Of course, this is exactly what I expected,’ Dame Noel replied, “My betrothed received an invitation from the Grand Duke. With the Night of the Hunt approaching, we are here to support him.”
At her words, the expressions of the goatee-wearing man and all the retainers around him shifted dramatically. Her statement implied that the main guest of honor was not Noel, but Aiden. In short, it meant the Grand Duke was more interested in the Lionheart’s future husband than in the Lionheart herself.
Every eye in the hall shot over to Aiden, pinning him in place. After scanning him up and down, the man with the goatee offered a brief, one-line commentary.
“A guy like that?”
His words, laced with a scoffing chuckle, made Dame Noel’s expression harden. Katya’s face twitched violently.
…Well, he’s not wrong to wonder.
From Aiden’s perspective, the reaction wasn’t that surprising. Unlike Noel or Katya, he wasn’t famous, and he wasn’t the type to seek such attention.
However.
“…Your Highness.”
“I know, I know. I won’t cause trouble,” Katya replied in a flat voice, her face devoid of any particular anger. “It’s fine. For now.”
…Though from where Aiden was sitting, she already looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.
“Well, if the Grand Duke invited him, there must be a reason,” the goatee-wearing man said, seemingly content to let the matter drop for the moment.
“We have no intention of getting involved in your family matters,” Aiden spoke up, matching the man’s tone and trying his best not to escalate the conflict. “We plan to resolve the issue requested by the Grand Duke as peacefully as possible and then leave—”
“Ah, of course,” the man cut him off without bothering to hear the end of his sentence.
Had he not done that, Aiden might have managed to maintain his diplomatic stance.
“Of course you do.”
“…”
At the man’s blatantly sarcastic tone, Aiden’s eyes narrowed.
…No matter how he looked at it, this was clearly not a situation that would end with everyone smiling.
* * *
Indeed, the atmosphere in the subsequent meeting didn’t improve in the slightest. While no major conflict erupted, every word and action was laced with an increasingly sharp edge.
“Could we at least receive documentation regarding the demonic beasts that frequently appear in the territory?”
“That is confidential. We cannot provide such information to outsiders.”
“…Then what level of support can we expect in terms of supplies and personnel?”
“Why don’t you consult the Grand Duke directly? I wouldn’t know, you see.”
“…”
This guy is being incredibly infuriating.
It was a masterclass in non-cooperation. With the conversation going nowhere, Aiden found it difficult to say anything at all, while the moods of Dame Noel and Katya grew increasingly grim.
“…At this rate, getting any cooperation will be difficult,” Dame Noel whispered to Aiden, the rage in her voice barely contained. “I understand they’re busy with family squabbles, but this is too much. Isn’t it the fundamental duty of the ruling class to protect their people?”
…He had to agree. Aiden tilted his head, his own discontent growing.
“I’m getting pretty annoyed over here, too.”
With a large-scale demonic beast crisis looming, watching them prioritize their petty power struggles was truly pathetic. Especially given the current situation.
…And this isn’t even a normal incident.
In the original game, this demonic beast crisis was so massive that the duchy could never have handled it without external aid. It was a foregone conclusion that the territory would fall into chaos. If they treated their helpers like this just because they were outsiders, their progress would inevitably stall.
Aiden scanned the opposing party, who still made no effort to hide their contempt.
The Imperial Prince was better than this.
At least that guy had the fundamentals of a ruler. These people were cancerous blights, half-wits so blinded by self-interest that they couldn’t see the disaster right in front of them. They valued their own power more than human lives.
Which meant one thing.
There was no reason to treat them like human beings.
Hmm…
Aiden tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought. His priorities flashed through his mind. As always, he had two main goals: clear the Main Quest and copy the skills of key figures.
So, in conclusion, the action he needed to take to accomplish both was…
“…”
Aiden ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
Lately, he felt like his personality was gradually changing. Such an absurd, crazy idea shouldn’t have popped into his head so easily.
“Dame Noel.”
At his sudden call, Dame Noel widened her eyes and turned to him. Her expression froze as soon as she heard his next words.
“Do you trust me?”
“…”
For a moment, intense anxiety flashed in her eyes.
“…I do.”
“…That took you an awfully long time to answer.”
“Do you really need to ask why? Just think about everything you’ve done until now.”
“…”
“Why do you think it took me so long to answer?”
…He didn’t have a comeback for that. When he decided to cause trouble, he did it spectacularly enough that even Katya had to acknowledge his merciless antics.
“Please trust me. I have a plan.”
“…”
“So will you just go along with it quietly?”
“…”
As Aiden continued, a shadow of gloom settled over Dame Noel’s face.
“…I suppose we can try.”
Permission came surprisingly easily. Her expression made it clear that even if she wasn’t thrilled, she would follow his lead.
‘Faster than I expected—’ Aiden tilted his head and stood up.
Well, since he had permission, he might as well see it through. He scooped up an armful of wine bottles from the table and strode toward the man with the goatee.
“…If you’re asking for a drink, I’ll pass. We’re hardly on terms to share one,” the man said with a smirk.
Staring intently at him, Aiden tilted his head. “I’m not particularly keen on that either.”
“…Pardon?”
“Actually, I was thinking on my way over. If you had all been just a little less rude, I might have felt a bit of guilt.”
“—What on earth are you—”
“But it seems I don’t need to.”
Before the man could finish his question—
CRACK!
The wine bottle in Aiden’s hand smashed down on the crown of the man’s head. Glass shards flew in all directions. Red wine and blood, even redder than the wine, splattered into the air. As the instantly unconscious man collapsed onto the table, the surrounding retainers let out screams and beast-like shrieks.
“W-W-What in the world are you doing—!”
Another wine bottle smashed down on the head of the man who was screaming. He collapsed next to the first.
“This is an outrage! Who let this lunatic into the territory—!”
Crack.
Another man went down.
“Guards! Call the guar—”
Crack.
And another.
“…”
“…”
Silence flooded the hall.
Having knocked out several more men in an instant, Aiden casually looked around, his expression as tired as ever.
“Anyone else want to scream?”
“…”
“No one else wants to be rude?”
“…”
“No one, right?”
“…”
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the remaining wine bottles in Aiden’s arms. His tone was exceedingly calm, which only amplified the terrifying message: if anyone said another word, he would introduce their head to one of those bottles.
“Now then, I’m going to ask a few questions. I’d appreciate it if you answered them faithfully.”
“…”
“I’ll take your silence as agreement, alright?”
As everyone watched in stunned silence while Aiden spouted his polite madness, Dame Noel buried her face in her hands.
“…Aiden,” she managed to force out, her voice trembling. “…Didn’t you say you had a good idea? That I should trust you…?”
Seeing her look at him as if she had no idea what she was supposed to trust, Aiden simply nodded.
“It’s alright, Dame Noel.”
“…What is?”
“In situations like this, you have to hit them so hard they can’t even squeak.”
“Pardon?”
“It means I haven’t even properly started yet.”
…She was realizing it all over again. This man was becoming more of a lunatic with each passing day.