Chapter 171

Gratitude

“……Why are you so anxious?”

Seeing Noel Astrea Simus on the verge of almost biting her nails in irritation, Katya Heinkel Craven spoke in a tone of disbelief.

“No, then how am I supposed to not be anxious in this situation, logically speaking?”

“From his perspective, this is practically everyday life.”

“…….”

Hmm.

I couldn’t refute that.

The kind of extreme behavior where Aiden Kellermain would say he wanted to have a meeting with the Great Chieftain and then drag away the supreme leader of another nation… as Katya said, if I traced back his past actions, it wasn’t particularly surprising.

However, the reason Noel felt uneasy wasn’t actually because of what Katya had mentioned.

“……The problem is that they’re having a one-on-one meeting.”

“And why is that a problem?”

The moment I said that, Katya’s face was instantly filled with confusion.

It must have been a rare experience for her to see Noel openly expressing a look that said, what kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I thought someone like you, who’s been around him for quite a while, would understand.”

“Understand what?”

As Katya grew more flustered under Noel’s increasingly exasperated gaze, Noel brushed her hair back irritably and spoke.

“The Great Chieftain is someone whose identity hasn’t been revealed at all.”

“……That’s true?”

It did feel strange that the supreme leader of a nation maintained such complete secrecy, but then again, even the Holy Crown Kingdom—where the ruler often behaved no better than a street thug—had functioned just fine.

And the Empire had once continued operating perfectly well even after a legitimate heir to the throne openly launched a coup and was suppressed…

“…….”

Looking at it this way, it almost felt like most of the leadership across the continent was a complete mess, but anyway.

“That itself is the problem.”

“What is?”

“How can you still not get it after I’ve explained this much?!”

Now practically shouting as she scratched her head, Noel cried out toward the thoroughly confused Katya.

“Why is everyone acting like that person is obviously a man?”

“……Huh?”

Come to think of it, Katya had also assumed that.

Maybe it was because every action naturally gave off the impression of a man, so it just felt normal to think that way.

But Noel was clearly presenting a completely different perspective.

“Why can’t anyone consider that the person might be a woman?”

“Ah.”

Listening to that, Katya’s whole body stiffened.

“From the start, that person has been openly showing interest in Mr. Aiden, and if someone like that goes into a one-on-one meeting—”

“……Uh…?”

“Yes! Exactly that!”

The moment Noel became certain Katya understood, she shouted as if screaming. Meanwhile, Rania A‘Shan blankly looked back and forth between the two of them.

‘……What are they even talking about?’

It was obvious she truly didn’t understand, but between Noel and Katya, it was equally obvious that not understanding this made someone an idiot.

Seeing Katya now act as if she couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized this sooner was, from an outside perspective, almost absurd.

…And now, Katya herself was on the verge of biting her nails in agitation.

“It can’t increase any further…!”

“Exactly…!”

“…….”

From Rania’s perspective as she quietly watched them, it was a rather mysterious sight.

‘What on earth does he even do in his daily life?’

It was only natural for that question to arise…….

▣

While drawing such concerns, the atmosphere between Aiden and the Great Chieftain was far more peaceful than expected.

To begin with, there wasn’t even a trace of tension or sparks flying between them.

If anything, it almost felt comfortable—like they could speak openly and frankly with each other……

“……I’ll speak honestly.”

The fact that the Great Chieftain rested her chin on her hand and began to speak already gave off that impression.

“You don’t doubt me at all, do you?”

Even her tone was far more relaxed compared to when others had been watching before.

Although they were inside a small tent with hardly any proper guard forces nearby, it was precisely because of that that the atmosphere felt paradoxically more at ease.

“And why do you think that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? If you thought I was targeting you, you wouldn’t have agreed to meet me alone so easily.”

The way she spoke from beneath the mask she always wore made it feel certain that she was smiling underneath it.

And Aiden didn’t even feel like refuting that statement.

“Yes. So take that off and let’s talk.”

“……Huh?”

“There’s no way someone in the same line of work wouldn’t recognize it.”

Back then.

A long time ago.

If I recalled the situation when I first met Katya Heinkel Craven—

I remembered wearing a mask that altered my voice because I ‘didn’t want my identity revealed’ when I met her.

I hadn’t known at the time that users of divine power could sense each other, so I was exposed immediately, but even so, I had genuinely been impressed by the performance of that equipment.

“Let’s be honest.”

Aiden leaned forward across the table, bringing his face closer.

“Why is someone like the Great Chieftain wearing something like that to deceive others?”

“…….”

“I know it well. I’ve used it myself before.”

“…….”

At those words, the Great Chieftain stared at him silently.

For a long time.

A very long time.

Long enough that even Aiden started to feel slightly uncomfortable under her gaze.

“Pfft.”

Then, unable to hold it in any longer, a quiet laugh escaped her, and Aiden narrowed his eyes.

Wondering what she was about to do, I simply watched.

“You’re the first one to recognize it right away.”

Saying that, the Great Chieftain casually raised her hand to her mask without any hesitation.

And the moment she pulled it off and tossed it aside, long red hair cascaded down beneath her clothes.

‘……Not what I expected?’

Honestly, I had assumed that someone like Elisha Gillias Craven or Bailey Varga would show their face in a situation like this.

But the face revealed beneath the mask was someone I had never seen before.

The first thought that came to mind was—

‘……She’s young?’

Not just a little—shockingly young.

She looked like a girl who might not have even reached adulthood yet, her youthful features still clearly visible.

What stood out the most was the scar that stretched across her entire face.

If not for that scar, I was certain she would have been beautiful, as her features were striking overall—but the grotesque mark was severe enough to overshadow everything else.

“Yeah. It stands out, doesn’t it?”

Perhaps because she had removed the mask, the Great Chieftain spoke in an even more relaxed tone than before.

More than just relaxed, her voice now sounded bright and almost childlike.

“I usually wear it partly to hide this.”

As she said that, she tied up her flowing hair.

“……It looks like it hasn’t been there for long.”

Aiden observed her quietly as he spoke.

Indeed, the lingering traces within that scar clearly looked as though not much time had passed since it formed.

“Right? It’s only been a little over half a year.”

“May I ask how it happened?”

“Yeah. It’s a scar from when the ‘original’ Great Chieftain died.”

“…….”

A bombshell I had never imagined dropped so suddenly that I was left speechless. The Great Chieftain—no, the girl who had just referred to herself as someone other than the ‘original’—smiled faintly as she spoke.

“You can’t tell anyone, okay? If you do, it might spark a civil war within the Tribal Alliance.”

“…….”

I couldn’t fully understand what she was saying since all the context before and after had been cut out.

But there was one thing I could grasp instinctively.

I was about to get entangled in something far deeper—and far dirtier—than I had expected.

The very words coming out of the Great Chieftain’s mouth made that clear.

“Let’s see… judging by the fact that you still agreed to a one-on-one meeting even after realizing I’m hiding something, it seems like you’ve already sensed something too, oppa. Am I right?”

“…….”

“Welcome to the bug pit. I heard you went through a lot in the Holy Crown Kingdom. I’d love to give you a proper welcome, but unfortunately, the situation’s not ideal.”

…On top of that, the way she hinted that she already knew what I had been doing before, and that she had been watching me with interest, made it obvious she had no intention of letting me walk away.

As I held my throbbing head, she grinned.

“It can’t be helped. The internal situation is such a mess that the Great Chieftain was assassinated by one of the tribal leaders. From my perspective, the fact that you came to the Tribal Alliance yourself is nothing short of a blessing from heaven.”

“……So you orchestrated all of this from the beginning to draw me in?”

“Yeah. There’s no way I could’ve done it with my own strength, so I figured I’d drag you in somehow first and worry about the rest later.”

“…….”

“Oh, but the assassins weren’t sent by me, okay? That was one of the other tribal leaders. Not sure if you’ll believe me though.”

“…….”

As I stared at her silently, I let out something like a groan.

“What do you want?”

“First of all, revenge. Your goal is similar, right? Find the one who messed with your people and make them pay.”

“…….”

“One of the tribal leaders killed my father. Only the one who did it knows the truth. The others still don’t.”

So this girl was the daughter of the Great Chieftain.

…The Great Chieftain had already been assassinated, and his daughter was pretending to be him—yet none of this information had leaked out at all.

Realistically, it made no sense. At this point, I couldn’t even begin to guess how deeply tangled this situation was or where it had started to go wrong…

“……I’d rather not get involved in something this deep.”

So my immediate response was only natural.

Even if I intended to track down and punish whoever had harmed me and those around me, listening to what she was saying made it clear there was no way this would end there.

“It’s fine. I’ve prepared an appropriate reward.”

“No matter what the reward is, getting involved in something like this is a bit—”

“How about I give you all of me?”

“…….”

“I heard you’re quite the womanizer—”

“I’d rather not hear nonsense. My apologies.”

Even though I had heard countless rumors to the point of developing a complex about it,

at the very least, I was an adult with enough sense not to lash out at a girl much younger than me.