Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: Sisters, They're No Ordinary Women
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“Sion Claussen.
Return to my ger for now.
I need to have some words with this woman here.”
“Yeah, get lost already.”
...Hearing two similarly beautiful women speak in such utterly different tones one after another felt like watching someone with a split personality.
Sion nodded as he alternated between Eos and Zhan’s words.
Still, worried that these crazy sisters might start brawling again, he beckoned to Kim Yu-hyun, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Eos since earlier.
“Kim Yu-hyun.
Keep a good eye on those two...”
But Sion shook his head midway.
Rather than calling it surveillance, phrasing it differently would multiply Kim Yu-hyun’s performance several times over.
“That woman.”
“...The one called Eos?”
“Yeah.
Eos Burler.
Make sure she doesn’t get hurt if another fight breaks out.
If she gets injured, it’ll give the kingdom a real headache.
If things get tense, do everything you can to stop it.”
At those words, Kim Yu-hyun didn’t make a face like “Why are you assigning me this?” Instead, he nodded right away as if to say, “Leave it to me.”
Sion looked at him and muttered inwardly, *Kid, you’re a man after all.* Then he turned and headed back to Aigiore’s ger.
“Mmff! Mmmph!”
“...”
The first to greet Sion upon his return was Trisha, tied up entirely in the carriage.
Her stigmata power had manifested, but only a fraction of it, and since the celestials hadn’t fully activated yet, constant activation was impossible. Right now, she was stronger than most knights, but her stamina and power distribution were a mess—like a fire that should blaze eternally reduced to a matchstick.
Her raw physical abilities were just a bit superior to an average human’s.
Getting subdued and bound head to toe like that wasn’t all that hard.
“Hey, Sion!
You okay...?”
At least Lily seemed to have the sharpest judgment; she’d been holding Risikida and Trisha in check.
The moment Sion returned, Lily checked him over, spotted the thin red line on his neck, and her face hardened instantly.
“Lady Lily, I have something to...”
“What’s this?”
“Eep.”
Lily grabbed Sion by the collar and yanked him close into her arms.
Seeing the blazing red flames in her eyes, Sion tried to say it was nothing, but Lily was Lily through and through.
“If you say it’s nothing, I’ll kill you.
Then I’ll kill myself.
Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lily’s hand moved toward the thin wound on Sion’s neck.
She examined it with a grimace like a priceless gem had been scratched—something she wouldn’t sell for all the gold in the world—then spoke.
“Hey.
Sion.”
It wasn’t her usual playful or seductive voice.
It was a low rumble, like a massive beast growling, ready to tear someone apart.
“It’s not deep.
Just a graze.”
“...Right?”
“Like hell it is.
You got a blade to the throat—what’s that supposed to be?”
Ssssh—
Lily cast a light healing spell, cleanly erasing the wound on Sion’s neck.
Even so, clearly annoyed, she licked the spot where the red line had been moments ago.
“Your body isn’t just yours.
Take good care of it.
If you don’t, I might really lose it?”
It was a seriously chilling warning.
With Trisha already on the verge of snapping, imagining the succubus queen truly losing her mind and swinging a scythe while cackling “Ahahaha!” made Sion feel suicidal already.
“I’ll take good care of it, so no more scary talk.”
“Depends on what you do.”
Lily glanced around as she said that.
Fortunately, everyone’s attention was fixed on the two northern sisters chatting far off.
Risikida, all hyped up and flustered, had spotted Sion returning and dashed off somewhere yelling, “I can’t let him see me disheveled!”
Missing this chance would disqualify her as succubus queen.
“Sion.”
“Yes, Lady Lily.”
“Hold me.”
“...Pardon?”
“I said hold me.”
*Here? Why?*
The words nearly burst from his throat.
But instinct screamed that saying them would get him properly thrashed by this woman.
No clue why, but he didn’t want another lecture, so Sion gently pulled Lily into his arms.
She burrowed into his chest even more clingily than usual.
“Mmm! Mmff!”
“...Um, Lady Lily.”
“Quiet.
Focus only on me.
Hold me tighter.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Risikida was gone, leaving only Trisha, bound tight.
Seizing the moment, Lily planned to drill some manners into the brat and flaunt her position as official number one—a thoroughly deliberate move.
“...”
Sion looked down at Lily, who never missed even the tiniest opening, and gave her silent applause.
*Yeah, that’s the dedication I expect.*
“Master!”
But the instant Risikida’s voice rang out, Lily slipped from Sion’s arms like it never happened and turned into the stern wife scolding him.
Trisha shut her mouth mid-squeal, looking utterly dumbfounded.
“M-Master!
Lord Sion!
Are you alright?”
“I gave her a good scolding.
I told her to be careful, didn’t I?”
“The wound...”
“Of course I healed it.
What do you take your big sis for?”
“Oh, right.
Thank you!”
“...”
Lily thoroughly tamed the hostile Trisha while treating the deferential Risikida appropriately.
She hammered in the fact: *Oppose me, and it’s all on you.*
The succubus queen’s brat-taming of Trisha was already underway.
*...Why am I surrounded by such dazzling big sisters?*
―
Finally, Eos returned to the ger.
She sought out Sion the moment she entered Aigiore’s side.
“Sion Claussen.
This might be an inconvenience for you, but it seems we’ll need to move the negotiation site.
Temujin—Karta’s leader, who’s shown hostility toward the kingdom—has requested to join as another powerhouse leading northern tribes. She insists she belongs at the table.”
“That’s odd.
They said they had no desire to talk with us from Hispania.”
“They’ve agreed to at least hear us out.”
*Eos must’ve persuaded her like mad,* Sion thought.
Indeed, Eos had told her sister to at least listen; if she didn’t like it, ditch it then—war or whatever.
If the kingdom was rude, Eos would side with Karta and turn against them.
“Hmm.”
Hearing that, Sion realized he held the upper hand here.
Eos Burler, the Daughter of Winter, clearly wanted to avoid all-out war with the kingdom.
Not out of fear.
She was the woman who’d fought Kim Yu-hyun’s rival “Khan” to a mutual destruction.
She opposed her sister only out of concern for the northern tribes.
“Burler.
Sorry to say this, but it kinda looks like the kingdom’s being dragged around by you northerners.
I’m the king’s proxy with full authority.
Sending me north isn’t enough?”
“No, no, of course not.
It’s just...”
“No ‘just’ about it.
Show some sincerity at least.
Go drag that sister of yours here now.
This isn’t enemy territory—it’s all tribal land. What’s there to be ‘scared’ of?”
Eos had no retort to Sion’s words.
As he said, the kingdom side had made major concessions.
They’d sent the king’s proxy north, and even with a blade to his throat, they hadn’t flipped the table in war—quite seriously, in fact.
Asking for more convenience now was just petulant.
It even tarnished northern warriors’ honor.
“...Then wait here just a bit longer.”
Eos bit her lip and stepped out.
Vice-Commander Schumacher watched her go, then cautiously spoke.
“You sure about this?
Aren’t you provoking them too much?”
“The kingdom has its pride. I have mine. Being summoned back and forth like a dog? No thanks.”
“...Understood.”
Schumacher was the royal knights’ vice-commander.
No knight took greater pride in Hispania.
That’s why Sion mentioned the kingdom’s pride—and his own as a bonus.
Though personally, he was a pro ready to bend anytime pride didn’t pay the bills.
“What about the rest?”
“They’re resting in the tents we were shown to.
Sir Amshel insisted on guarding you, but with you, me, and Sir Kim Yu-hyun here, I asked him to watch the group instead.”
“Good call.”
It must gall Risikida, but with the group split, powerhouses had to be divided on the surface.
Schumacher didn’t know Lily and Trisha’s true natures yet—no helping it.
*I’d planned to send Kim Yu-hyun with Risikida, but...*
The world’s strongest gazing all moony-eyed twisted Sion’s guts, so he’d assigned him this spot to face Eos plenty.
Pushing him aside, a grown man moping like a sulky kid digging holes was pathetic.
*Plus, Risikida couldn’t properly stop these sisters from fighting anyway.*
This called for the future world’s strongest, Kim Yu-hyun.
Bonus: show the northern barbarians *our protagonist’s badass.*
Soon, hoofbeats echoed from afar, and the ger’s entrance flap ripped open.
“You!”
*Whoa, face twisting the second she arrives.*
Sion stared back at Zhan glaring murderously.
Eos must’ve relayed his words vividly—especially the “scared?” part.
“...”
Kim Yu-hyun and Vice-Commander Schumacher hands flew to their sword hilts, glaring at her.
But she ignored them, eyes locked only on Sion.
After staring forever, Zhan exhaled roughly, strode in, and plopped into a seat.
“Hey, that’s my spot.
What a psycho bitch.”
Eos followed, facepalming in disbelief, and sat elsewhere.
Thus, the kingdom met with one seeking peace and one seeking war.
“Let’s finish this talk quick and split.
Just looking at you pisses me off, you smug prick.”
Anyone hearing her would think *we* begged to meet first.
*Scared?* One word, and she’d charged like a maniac.
“Shall we, oh ‘honorable’ northern warrior who shoved a blade at an unarmed man.”
No way sweet words would leave Sion’s mouth.
Zhan glared daggers back, but when their eyes met, she sighed and looked away.
“Don’t look at me. Speak, kingdom dog.”
“Sion Claussen.
And don’t talk down to me like some underling.”
“...”
No reply, but that sufficed.
Here, Zhan Temujin—the Khan—had a fatal weakness exposed.
She’d been rude to an unarmed man who’d greeted per custom; northern warrior code demanded apology.
*I’ll remind her every time she raises her voice.*
Grinning inwardly, Sion continued in what he deemed polite tones.
“Shall we resume, Burler?”
“Yes.
Aigiore supports peace with the kingdom.
We hope to restart trade, which has faltered.
Karta, however...”
“We’re securing our tribes’ survival.
Even if it means clashing with the kingdom.”
Zhan said it facing completely the wrong way.
*Not even glancing?*
Sion stared, dumbfounded.
She’d turned her head toward the tent wall, refusing eye contact.
“Hey.”
“...”
“Zhan Temujin.”
Reflexively turning at her name, she met Sion’s eyes, scowled, and whipped back around—right toward Eos’s seat.
Both sisters clicked their tongues and averted gazes oppositely.
*What the hell?*
Meanwhile, Eos kept talking.
Ongoing trade would reassure the tribes.
Zhan countered, slamming her sister: monsters—the main trade goods—had fled to the Blade Mountains, leaving nothing but begging the kingdom for mercy.
*...Things went off the rails like this.*
Originally, northern nobles rebelled, joined by barbarian tribes—that was the novel’s flow.
The spark: nobles assaulting the capital.
But Sion snuffed that spark—drowned it, really.
So the kingdom’s north stayed quiet, while the starved barbarians rose up.
*Originally, Sion wouldn’t meet these two so quietly.*
Sion pondered, then saw a simple fix.
From Eos, they were cornered without trade goods for decent living.
*Monsters pour from the Blade Mountains in a few months?*
Celestial followers stirring southern pirates now reached north.
If all blame could go to the demonkin in the distant Black Mist lands, any sacrifice was fine—innocents be damned.
“We want peaceful trade with the kingdom again.
But lacking goods makes convincing tribesfolk hard.
That sum it up?
Burler. Temujin.”
“Yes.”
“Then solving it should be quick.”
“...Pardon?”
Eos gaped at Sion.
Zhan peeked startled, met his eyes, and jerked away.
“A solution...?”
“There is.
One condition.”
“Condition?”
As Eos echoed, Sion smiled faintly.
“From now on, northern tribes trust me completely.”