Chapter 168

Big things always

“Ah.”

“……What is it.”

“Have you ever written a will?”

“…….”

For someone who had just conquered Mount Demon Sealing at a speed that even made the Great Chieftains blanch, the question he brought up was unbearably gloomy.

Elena, who had taken on the role of guiding Aiden, looked at him with narrowed eyes, but the expression of the man who had voiced those words showed nothing but seriousness.

“……What is the reason for that.”

She said it like that, but she more or less knew the real reason anyway.

‘……If you were invited, you could just go and come back.’

He had probably been invited to some event again and was agonizing over which of them he should take with him.

Even for exaggeration, this was far too much.

Weren’t they both women who liked him? Wasn’t he simply stuck between them? For someone so blessed, worrying to this extent felt almost shameless…….

Thinking that, Elena let out a dumbfounded sigh, but Aiden, who had brought it up first, showed no sign of changing his attitude.

With the most serious expression in the world, he opened his mouth.

“Every major incident I have experienced broke out at those damned social gatherings.”

“…….”

“And most of them exploded over issues related to women. Not once did I escape it.”

“…….”

……What should I even say.

It might be fair to call it self-inflicted.

But the weariness hanging on his face was no joke.

He even gave off the detachment of someone who had already renounced the world and was merely waiting for death, so this time even Elena did not seem able to pick a fight with him…….

And so, in the silence that followed, the building where they were staying slowly came into view. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“…….”

“…….”

No, could I honestly call this a building.

Aiden and Elena fell silent at the sight of a structure that had been reduced to little more than its frame and left in a miserable state.

When I realized that all of this had been done by two women who had gone on a rampage because he had gotten slightly hurt, I began to understand, just a little, why he was worrying like that.

“……I heard a temporary lodging has been prepared inside. Let us go in.”

“Temporary lodging?”

“Yes. It might be a little cramped for your entire party to stay, but that was the limit with the remaining materials. Please bear with it until another residence is prepared.”

“……Can’t we just go somewhere else?”

“Officially, you and your party are guests of the priestess. You may only stay in lawful and appropriate accommodations.”

“…….”

“And places like that usually take a filthy long time due to administrative procedures.”

“…….”

Hearing things like this made me keenly realize just how much authority those two sisters held within the Tribal Alliance, and it was honestly frightening.

“In that regard, may I ask you a favor.”

“……Pardon?”

“Please leave one behind.”

“…….”

“If both of them go over, it becomes truly difficult to deal with the aftermath.”

I desperately wanted to ask what she meant, but I decided to simply nod.

No matter what answer I gave, I felt like the reaction I would receive would not be satisfactory…….

“Very well.”

The lodging I was guided to with those words was, in truth, far better than I had expected.

As Elena nodded and was about to step inside, I suddenly stopped her, my expression turning stiff.

“……?”

“Wait.”

Leaving her puzzled, I grabbed her arm and shoved her sharply behind me.

And almost at the same moment.

“-!”

Elena’s mouth fell wide open.

……The building that had barely remained intact was being completely smashed apart and shaking violently.

“No, I mean, that spot was mine—!”

“You pebble that just rolled in, how dare you try to pry out the stone that was already lodged there—!”

Fragments of sentences could be heard here and there, but even those were drowned out by the explosive booms bursting from the fight, to the point that it was impossible to understand what they were saying.

Watching the building—patched together with temporary materials—tremble down to its very framework, Aiden clicked his tongue at Elena, who had almost been caught up in it and collapsed on the spot.

“Let’s wait a bit before going in.”

“…….”

“If we don’t, people like us might just get crushed to death.”

“…….”

Elena silently nodded.

Her widened gaze alternated between the white qi erupting from inside the building and the blazing Holy Flame.

‘……Ah. So that’s why you needed a will.’

……It was certainly a sight that made me immediately understand why he had reacted like that earlier…….

◆

“If someone was considerate about that sort of thing, they would have at least prepared a more traditional bed…….”

“……Why?”

“So we could draw lots or come to some agreement and establish a fait accompli—”

“Stop, stop.”

Noel hurriedly covered Katya’s mouth just as she was about to shamelessly blurt something out.

No matter what, with all sorts of people around, even Noel must have felt that saying something like that outright would cause quite a problem…….

“What. Why.”

“…….”

“You’re all thinking the same thing anyway.”

As Katya said that, her gaze swept around.

Milene, the priestess sisters with her, and…….

“……Whatever you are talking about, I would appreciate it if you left me out of it.”

Seeing that her gaze had landed on her as well, Elena waved her hands and said that, but Katya merely snorted.

“Oh, sure.”

“…….”

“You seem to have already entered the visible range too.”

Even as Elena’s expression soured, Katya tossed out those words. Glares flew in simultaneously from around them, but the person who had spoken did not blink an eye and continued.

“Ah, let’s stop pretending we don’t all know.”

“…….”

“It’s him, after all.”

“……?”

“Isn’t it practically a law of nature?”

What did that mean.

As Aiden narrowed his eyes and stared at her, Katya let out a deep sigh and shrugged toward the others.

The gesture clearly meant, ‘You all agree, right?’

“……More importantly, shall we finish settling this?”

And even amidst that chaotic exchange, Noel spoke with firm resolve.

“Settling what?”

“It’s about the spot.”

“…….”

Dizziness spread across Aiden’s face.

Ah, right.

If that topic came up here, of course it would lead to a fight.

It was essentially declaring in front of everyone that she was this man’s wife. Among the people in this room, there was not a single person who would not be sensitive if such a statement were made…….

“……Regarding that matter, I think we should take our time and think about it until tomorrow.”

“What do you mean. How can we wait until tomorrow?”

“……Pardon?”

“Shouldn’t it be decided tonight?”

At Katya’s incredulous question, Aiden blinked blankly.

There were still a few days left until the related ceremony. Did it really need to be decided that urgently……?

“In the first place, if not today, we can’t decide it.”

……Hm.

Something felt strange.

“Wait a moment. Let me ask again, what exactly were you fighting about?”

“We have to decide who sleeps next to you. Why are you asking something so obvious?”

“…….”

Ah.

Earlier, Elena had clearly said that since they had crammed everyone into the temporary lodging, they would all be staying together in quite a narrow room.

Which meant that, no matter what, someone would end up sleeping pressed tightly against him.

‘……Hm.’

So.

So these people were saying they had fought hard enough to nearly blow the building away over something like that.

“……Isn’t it just about deciding where to sleep?”

“……To some extent, yes…….”

Noel, the only one in this room still maintaining something resembling common sense, answered in a hesitant voice, but aside from her, the rest openly avoided eye contact and turned their heads away.

……What is it.

“Is it really that important?”

When Aiden pointed that out, a brief silence fell.

“……Wow. I knew it already, but is that really a person? Will he only realize it later when he comes to his senses and ends up living under the same roof?”

“He’s already at that stage and still doesn’t know, so who knows. Though even then, he might still be like that…….”

“Right. Let’s see if he can keep acting like that even when the number of family members is forcibly increasing later.”

“…….”

Aiden’s evaluation as a human being was being utterly shredded in real time.

There seemed to be something in the middle of that conversation that he absolutely could not ignore, but if he pointed it out, it felt like an even more violent reaction would come back at him, so he could not bring himself to say anything.

No, seriously, why react that much over something like sleeping arrangements.

“But.”

As I was thinking that, Milene, who had kept her mouth shut until now, rested her chin on her hand and stared at him intently.

“Then, if not this sleeping arrangement, what kind of ‘spot’ were you expecting?”

“…….”

“Is there something else?”

“…….”

The moment I heard that.

Tension spread through the room.

Unlike earlier, everyone’s gaze was far more serious now. With lowered eyes, they watched each other warily, as if a truly important announcement was about to be made…….

“To be honest.”

And since it was not something I could keep hiding anyway, I laid everything out.

What was going to happen, that I had to take someone with me, and that the one who went with me would likely receive attention in exactly the way the people in this room desired most.

“…….”

“…….”

A silence far heavier than before settled heavily over the room.

I could even hear the naked sound of someone swallowing dryly…….

“……Aiden, what do you want to do?”

The very fact that Noel asked that felt cruel to me.

Even as she asked, her eyes trembled like a wanderer who had lost her way, and her face was flushed as if it might burst.

“…….”

And.

As for this, I did have an answer prepared.

‘……There will be an incident.’

It had already been updated in the System Window. From what was written in the Quest Window, something would break out at that event again.

If that was the case.

Then the safest path was obvious.

‘……This is necessary. I’m doing this because it’s necessary…….’

It was an answer so terrifying that I had to close my eyes tightly and brainwash myself like that.

After taking a deep breath, slapping my cheeks hard, and meeting the eyes of each person in the room one by one, I finally nodded as if I had made up my mind and forcefully spoke.

“……Shall we all go together?”

“…….”

“……I think I’ll need everyone here.”

A dreadful atmosphere hovered around us.

The silence remained the same as before.

……If it were possible to explode to death from nothing but gazes, I felt like this would be exactly what it would feel like.