The Villainess Heroine Leona Bayern and Geum Taeyang's Resolve

‘Just as I suspected—the most likely scenario.’

In The Chronicles of World Conquest, the overall story arc stays similar across modes, but the finer details shift depending on the route. One of those variables is the source of trouble—the troublemaker. Since every kingdom has its own rival, the main antagonist changes based on which kingdom the protagonist belongs to. However, in nearly every mode, one particular character consistently appears as the vanguard during Mohican’s early retirement event. I had considered every possibility just in case, but I never expected the rare exception to trigger in my current storyline. Yet the moment we met, my sharp intuition sent a jolt through my mind.

“By the way, these people…”

While I was sizing up the situation, Great Mother Sophia and Athena were exchanging polite yet tense words with the Mohican visitors. Even among fellow Mohicans, outsiders suddenly appearing near the border carried obvious risks of misunderstanding. Once the two confirmed there was no hostile intent, they turned their attention to the real outsiders—the ones who seemed to be the heart of this encounter.

“These are members of the Heavenly Demon Division from the Tudor Kingdom’s royal army.”

With that, Yulau introduced the woman with deep purple hair standing beside him.

‘What a load of crap.’

I nearly burst out laughing at the sight. ‘Tudor, my ass. These are the Tuyranos Autonomous Region parasites leeching off Memphis territory.’

The uniforms were definitely not Tudor Heavenly Demon Division attire. They were soldiers of the Tuyranos Autonomous Region—the suspicious variable Nadia had already warned me about.

‘From the looks of it, Baccara doesn’t know who these people really are, Nadia sensed something was off and kept her distance, and they’re using “Tudor” as a smokescreen to hide their Memphis connection. They’ve clearly planned this deception carefully.’

The Mohican tribes generally held a poor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠view of the Memphis Kingdom. Being neighbors, they had the most frequent conflicts. My guess was that Memphis was searching for the innovative energy mentioned in the prophecy and had delegated the task to their vassal state, Tuyranos. Tuyranos was essentially a mercenary nation that took on dirty jobs without hesitation. That explained why their reputation was so bad.

Since the Tuyranos people were openly using the Tudor name, Memphis must have already settled things with Tudor behind the scenes. Memphis and Tudor were close allies.

“These Heavenly Demon Division members helped us obtain a large supply of vaccines. It would be rude to simply accept their aid without giving something in return, so we’re granting their request.”

“What exactly did they request?”

“They’re very interested in the ancient ruins scattered throughout Galatea. We’ve been showing them around after obtaining permission from the other tribes.”

“Ah…!”

On the surface, they had used the vaccines to build goodwill with the Baccara tribe. They seemed to have already interpreted the prophecy as pointing to the ancient ruins. Targeting the largest tribe first made sense—most smaller tribes wouldn’t dare refuse their request.

“Is this beautiful lady the Great Mother of the Mohican people, Sophia Barbara?”

“Yes, that is correct, Lady Leona.”

The deep-purple-haired woman addressed Great Mother with polite formality, and Yulau revealed her name in the process. The woman’s name was Leona.

“It is an honor, madam. I have long heard of your reputation. They say you are the incarnation of the Gaia Goddess. I am Leona Bayern.”

Bow…!

“You flatter me. May the blessing of the Gaia Goddess accompany you on your travels through Galatea.”

Leona bowed deeply and respectfully greeted Great Mother, who responded with a warm, benevolent smile and offered her blessing.

‘Look at that fake bitch.’

I barely swallowed the curse that almost escaped my lips. ‘She’s the one who hates Mohicans more than anyone.’

That was right. Leona Bayern was a woman who harbored deep hostility toward the Mohican people. That was exactly why she had been the perfect vanguard for the massacre.

‘Just because she’s pretty doesn’t mean my disgust disappears, you bitch.’

I’ll be honest. Back when I played The Chronicles of World Conquest, she was one of my favorite heroines. Why? Because she was gorgeous. That deep purple ponytail gave off serious big-sister vibes. For someone like me who grew up without family in my previous life, she was the perfect character. If Great Mother had been an official heroine, she would’ve taken the top spot. Since she wasn’t, Leona Bayern with her big-sister aura became my favorite instead. That distinctive military uniform suited her perfectly too—European early-modern style. But now it just felt repulsive. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Why? Because I had completely empathized with the Mohican tribe. This bitch was going to try to kill my family.

‘Playing her route was insanely fun, though. The Tudor storyline really matched my tastes.’

Even while leeching off the massive Memphis Kingdom, the autonomous state of Tuyranos was an appealing mercenary nation. I had always liked underdogs, which was why I asked the main developer to add a conquest mode featuring the early-retirement ghost tribe, the Mohicans.

“....”

After exchanging pleasantries with Great Mother, the bitch Leona stared at my beloved mother-in-law in silence for a moment.

“You resemble my late mother. She was truly beautiful as well. She was the person I respected most.”

She spoke again, wearing an enigmatic expression as she claimed Great Mother looked like her mother.

‘Great Mother resembles her mother?’

Since she had been my favorite, I had poured everything into her route, so I knew about her mother too. The claim that she was stunningly beautiful was true. She came from a prominent noble house in the Darmia Empire and was considered one of the empire’s greatest beauties at the time. After her family fell, she apparently connected with Leona’s father, a Tuyranos noble.

“Then this person must be…”

While I was quietly burning with fighting spirit, Great Mother introduced Athena to Leona. After greeting Athena, Leona turned her gaze toward me.

“This is Geum Taeyang, deputy chief of the Gaia tribe. He is also the husband of Tessa Athena.”

Thud!

Ever the professional, I suppressed the rising hatred and calmly introduced myself to Leona Bayern before extending my hand for a handshake.

“Pleased to meet you, Deputy Chief Geum Taeyang. I am Leona Bayern, commander of the 2nd Division of the Tudor Heavenly Demon Corps.”

Smile…!

Grab!

Leona took my outstretched hand with an enigmatic smile.

‘She’s just as professional as I am. As expected of my former favorite.’

I clicked my tongue. The reason was simple: Leona, who hated Mohicans enough to want to tear them apart, harbored the greatest hatred toward Mohican men in particular.

‘My face, which even made Nadia feel favorable toward me, must be like gasoline fueling the flames of hatred in this woman. On top of that, my impressive physique. She must be grinding her teeth in frustration right now.’

Yet she managed to keep smiling while shaking hands with a handsome, well-built Mohican man who reeked of raw masculinity. That level of self-control was impressive. No wonder she had been able to massacre ninety thousand Mohicans.

‘If I kill this woman right here and now, would that resolve the fate awaiting the Mohican people?’

My statement about empathizing with the Mohicans was sincere. My mind was already running calculations on what would happen if I killed Leona Bayern.

‘If I do that, it won’t be because of the Morion—it’ll be because I killed Leona, and that will definitely spark a massive slaughter. It might even escalate into a full-scale war between humans and barbarians.’

I had more than enough justification to kill Leona. But that justification only existed because I knew the future. To outside observers, it would simply look like some barbarian had randomly beaten a human noble to death. Depending on how things played out, Tuyranos and its ally Memphis might launch an invasion. Other kingdoms already hostile toward barbarians would test the waters, and even fellow Mohican tribes might hesitate to help us. Why? Because we would lack a proper cause.

‘Five of them is tough, but it’s doable if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go for it…’

I had already scanned all five of their combat capabilities through the Transcendent’s Eye. Especially the most important person—Leona Bayern.

‘The matchup isn’t bad.’

Our overall levels were the same. However, thanks to training with Athena, my stamina had risen to A+, giving me the edge in raw physical specs. In other words, Leona was the type who had to be evaluated by her special abilities and items, just like Nadia. On top of that, she was Tuyranos’s Supreme Commander. The political structure of the Tuyranos Autonomous Region featured a Supreme Leader as the highest political authority, while the Supreme Commander held actual military power. At this point, the Supreme Leader position was probably held by Leona’s uncle. Since she was the Supreme Commander, if Leona died by my hand, it would immediately mean war with Tuyranos—no calculations needed.

‘And even if I’m doing this to save Great Mother and Athena, I can’t put the two of them in danger.’

Leona’s special abilities were certainly strong. Still, I was confident. But I couldn’t guarantee the safety of the Barbara mother and daughter. In the end, the risk outweighed the reward, so I gave up on the idea.

‘Besides, she’s highly likely to be one of my heroines.’

My guess was about a 90% chance, but the [Unlocks at Affection 90+] note next to her special item confirmed that Leona Bayern was a heroine character whose affection route was active. However, since her current affection toward me was at rock bottom rather than positive, her exact affection value and physical profile weren’t displayed on the status window.

‘I can’t kill a heroine. I need to seduce and thoroughly enjoy my heroines if I want to get closer to unifying the world.’

The moment I saw that note, I regained some of my composure. Avoiding danger to the Mohican tribe right now wasn’t enough. It had to connect to world unification. Leona was undoubtedly a crucial piece in my grand plan.

‘But obviously her affection isn’t just low—it’s probably negative 200. This Casanova Geum Taeyang has to overcome even that level of dislike.’

She was a difficult opponent. This might be the real first major hurdle.

“I understand the Baccara tribe’s position, but this is the Gaia tribe, home to Conan, the great elder of the Mohican people. No matter how close we are to the border, wandering around without announcing your presence is discourteous.”

“My apologies for the oversight. We will make sure to announce ourselves properly in the future.”

“Good. I will also inform the chieftain in advance.”

Perfectly reasonable exchanges passed between Great Mother and Yulau.

“The Baccara tribe is really getting ahead of itself these days. They wouldn’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have even dreamed of something like this in the past.”

After the two groups parted ways and we returned to the Gaia tribe village, Athena couldn’t hide her displeasure. There was no way Yulau had made a mistake. He had clearly looked down on the Gaia tribe, assuming it would be fine to approach the border without notifying them, simply because they were currently the largest tribe.

“Yeah… that’s how it turned out.”

Great Mother tried to sound calm, but her eyes were complicated as she let out a small sigh in response to Athena’s words.

‘As expected… I need to strike at the root of the problem. I can’t just charge in after seeing only the symptoms.’

Imagining Athena and Great Mother suffering through the coming upheaval had certainly been powerful motivation. But it was also true that getting swept up in that emotion had nearly narrowed my vision. I had let the main instigator of the future catastrophe leave alive today, but that was the right choice for now. The most important thing lay elsewhere, and I was already steadily preparing to resolve it.

‘First, I need to unify the Mohican tribes. Without a clear leader, they’re just glaring at each other and acting independently—that’s why they collapsed.’

That goal was the unification of the Mohican people under one banner.