Chapter 54

Retribution

...And clearly, the beginning was never smooth.

Inside the mansion they had entered by Duke Aslan's invitation, I looked around with some displeasure.

We had been guided in, deeper into the estate.

‘The atmosphere is a bit...’

It felt like everything was on edge.

It wasn't just that the people moving about inside the mansion seemed unwelcoming to outsiders—none of the people sitting in the meeting room and staring at us looked even remotely friendly.

And among them, a few stood out more than the rest in that regard.

“I don’t like those stares.”

“Please bear with it.”

As Katya said that with a smiling face, I muttered helplessly.

She was basically a ticking time bomb, so every time she said something like that, I couldn’t help feeling nervous.

‘Not that I don’t understand her.’

But this time, their attitude was so bad that I didn’t even feel like blaming Katya.

As I thought that, I scanned the people glaring at us with fierce eyes.

They were all vassals under Duke Aslan, but the factions they belonged to differed. Their clothing made it easy to tell them apart.

‘Damian Aslan, Liza Aslan...’

The Duke’s first son and second daughter respectively. Both key figures in the ducal house’s succession dispute—a headache for the entire Empire.

Though they themselves weren’t present, only their subordinates were here, those underlings were also shooting us openly hostile looks.

Even though we were seated quite a distance apart—so far that we could barely make out each other’s faces across the table that stretched like an endless sea—their hostility came through loud and clear.

“They must be thinking, ‘Why are outsiders interfering in our family affairs?’”

As she took a seat beside me, Noel muttered with narrowed eyes.

Receiving cold stares from the others, her expression was far from gentle.

“Basically, both you and I are perceived as part of His Majesty the Emperor’s faction. They’re likely wary of political interference.”

“...Isn’t the Night of the Hunt about to happen soon?”

Regardless of the internal affairs of the territory, we were invited here to help with the disaster that was soon to unfold.

If they were still focused on internal power struggles with something so serious looming over them, there wasn’t much we could say...

“That would be the reasonable reaction. However...”

Noel let out a short sigh.

“...The vassals of the Aslan Ducal House have never had a good reputation in that regard.”

Self-preservation. Protecting their own interests. Scrambling for power.

It was already notorious throughout the Empire—these were the very traits eating away at the prestigious martial house of Duke Aslan.

As I was having those thoughts, a voice came from across the table.

"You must’ve had a rough journey coming all this way!"

It was a man with a distinctive goatee.

Judging by the epaulet on his shoulder, he was one of Damian Aslan’s men.

Because of the distance, he had raised his voice, which only made his tone come through more clearly.

"Surely someone as great as the Lionhearted has better things to do than come out to some backwater like this?"

A mocking tone, practically dripping with, “What are people like you doing crawling into a place like this?”

"..."

Noel tilted her head with a subtle shrug, her gesture practically shouting ‘figures’.

"My fiancé was invited by the Duke. The Night of the Hunt is near, so we’re here to provide support."

The moment she said that, the goatee man and everyone around him—underwent a dramatic change in expression.

That sentence implied that the central figure in this meeting wasn’t Noel, but Aiden.

In short,

The Duke was more interested in the husband of the Lionhearted than in the Lionhearted herself.

All eyes immediately turned to Aiden and pierced into him. The man with the goatee looked him up and down, then muttered a quick verdict.

"That guy?"

As the derisive comment slipped out with a chuckle, Noel’s expression hardened, and Katya’s face twitched even more violently.

‘…Well, I guess that’s not surprising.’

From Aiden’s perspective, it wasn’t all that strange.

Unlike Noel or Katya, he wasn’t some famous figure whose name preceded him, nor did he seek that kind of attention.

Still.

"...Your Highness."

"I know, I know. I won’t cause trouble."

Katya answered in a level voice. There wasn’t any visible sign of anger on her face either.

"It’s fine. For now."

...From where I stood, she already looked like a lit fuse on a ticking bomb.

"Well, if the Duke invited you, I suppose there’s a reason for it."

Fortunately, the goatee man didn’t seem interested in pushing things further.

"We have no intention of interfering in your family matters."

Matching the mood, I tried my best to de-escalate things as I opened my mouth.

"We’re simply here to peacefully resolve the issue the Duke requested—"

"Oh, of course."

I could have kept up the polite tone if he hadn’t cut me off mid-sentence.

"I’m sure that’s the case."

"..."

With his sarcasm on full display, I narrowed my eyes.

...No matter how I looked at it,

There was no way this situation would end with us all smiling at each other.

Sure enough, the atmosphere in the next location wasn’t any different. The mood hadn’t shifted a bit.

There hadn’t been any major open conflict on the surface, but each word and gesture reeked more and more of hostility.

"Could we at least receive some documents about the beasts that frequently appear in the territory—"

"That’s classified. It’s difficult to provide such information to outsiders."

"…Then to what extent can we expect support in terms of supplies or manpower?"

"Wouldn’t it be better to consult the Duke directly about that? I wouldn’t know, you see."

"…"

This guy was seriously pissing me off.

That kind of thought naturally arose from the flood of responses being thrown our way.

With the conversation going like this, it was hard for me to even keep talking, and the mood around Noel and Katya, who had accompanied me, was growing increasingly tense.

"…At this rate, it’s going to be difficult to get any kind of cooperation."

Dame Noel murmured to me.

The irritation in her tone was far from subtle.

"I understand that their family feud keeps them busy, but this is just too much. Isn’t protecting civilians the bare minimum duty of those in power?"

…Hard to disagree with that.

I twisted my head in displeasure.

"It’s annoying on this end too."

A major beast crisis was just around the corner, yet they were still obsessed with guarding their personal turf. It really was pathetic.

And considering the current situation, all the more so.

‘…It’s not like this is some minor incident.’

Even in the original game, the beast crisis was so large-scale that it would have been impossible to handle without external help. The ducal territory was destined to fall into utter chaos. If this was how they treated allies, then the operation was sure to hit a wall.

I scanned the faces of those who still made no effort to hide their displeasure at our presence, eyes filled with disdain.

‘The prince was better than this.’

At least that guy had the fundamentals of a ruler in abundance.

But these people? They were like a cancer. So blinded by personal gain they couldn’t even recognize the disaster right in front of them. People who thought their own power was more important than the lives of others.

Which meant—

There was no reason to treat them like people at all.

‘Hmm…’

I tapped my fingers lightly on the table, falling into thought.

Information about priorities and goals passed through my mind in a flash.

As always, there were two primary objectives.

Clear the Main Quest, and copy the skills of key characters.

In conclusion—

What I had to do to accomplish both of those was…

"…"

I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh.

Honestly.

I felt like even my own personality was starting to change these days.

These kinds of crazy, ridiculous thoughts really shouldn’t be popping into my head so casually.

"Dame Noel."

At the sudden call, Noel turned to look at me, eyes slightly widened.

But as soon as she heard what I said next, her expression froze.

"Do you trust me?"

"..."

A flash of intense unease crossed Noel’s eyes.

"…………I do."

"…That took quite a while, didn’t it?"

"Would you care to place a hand on your heart and reflect on your past behavior?"

"…"

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

…Not much I could say to that.

Even Katya, who wasn’t one to go easy on people, had admitted that when I caused trouble, I did it in the most spectacular way possible.

"Please, just trust me. I do have a plan."

"…"

"So could you just go along with me?"

"…"

As I continued speaking, worry slowly clouded Noel’s face.

"…Fine. Let’s see what you have in mind."

But the agreement came more easily than I’d expected.

She didn’t seem thrilled, but she was willing to follow along.

That was quicker than I thought—tilting my head, I rose from my seat.

Anyway, since I had her permission, it was fine to go ahead.

I picked up several bottles of wine from the table and walked straight toward the man with the goatee.

"…If you're going to ask me to drink with you, I’ll have to decline. We’re not exactly on those terms."

He gave a bitter smile as he spoke, and I stared at him for a moment before tilting my head and replying.

"I don’t really want to drink with you either."

"…Sorry?"

"Actually, I was thinking about it while walking over. If you people had been even slightly less rude, I might have felt a little guilty."

"What are you—"

"But it turns out I don’t need to."

Before he could even finish his question,

The wine bottle I was swinging full force crashed down on his skull with a sharp crack.

Glass shards flew in all directions. Red wine and something redder than wine—splashed through the air.

As the goatee man collapsed onto the table unconscious, people nearby let out a chorus of screams and shouts.

"W-what the hell do you think you’re—!"

And before the person screaming could finish,

Another wine bottle smashed into their head.

One more dropped beside the goatee man.

"This is madness! Who let this lunatic into the territory—!"

Crash.

Another one dropped.

"Guards! Call the—"

Crash.

Another.

"…"

"…"

Silence filled the meeting room.

Having knocked out several more in the blink of an eye, I looked around with my usual slightly tired expression.

"Anyone else planning to scream?"

"…"

"Anyone else feeling rude?"

"…"

"No?"

"…"

Everyone’s gaze locked onto the remaining wine bottles still cradled in my arms.

My tone was perfectly calm, but the message was crystal clear—anyone who said the wrong thing next was getting personally introduced to one of these bottles.

"So, I’m going to ask a few questions now. I’d appreciate it if you answered sincerely."

"…"

"I’ll take silence as agreement, alright?"

As everyone stared in stunned silence at the politely unhinged man before them, Noel dragged both hands down her face.

"…Aiden."

Her voice trembled as she managed to get the words out.

"…Didn’t you say you had a good idea? That I should trust you…?"

She clearly had no idea what I expected her to believe in right now, and I nodded.

"It’s fine, Dame Noel."

"…What is?"

"When it comes to things like this, you have to slam it in until the other side can’t even open their mouth."

"Sorry, what?"

"It means I haven’t even really started yet."

...It struck me again.

This man was becoming more and more of a madman by the day.