Chapter 130

Encouragement (2)

Fortunately, Noel did not simply cut off Aiden’s head on the spot.

……To be honest, the ominous aura flowing down my back made it feel like it wouldn’t have been strange at all if she had done exactly that, but in any case, the situation was urgent, so it strongly felt like she was letting it slide.

“By the way, Dame Noel.”

“Yes?”

“……Where on earth have you been all this time?”

Even if nothing else, I had to ask this.

While massive incidents were erupting everywhere with dragons bursting out, hadn’t this person failed to show herself anywhere?

And at that question, Noel’s face immediately crumpled.

“……Well, you see. I cannot remember either.”

“……Pardon?”

“I know it sounds strange…… but when I came to my senses, I had already arrived at this campsite.”

She stroked her chin as if she had met someone important— and seeing that, Aiden found himself at a loss for words.

‘……All that happened, and she remembers nothing?’

If someone asked him whether he believed what he had just heard or not, he would naturally say that he trusted Noel.

That only made it stranger.

It did not seem as though she had been struck from behind and knocked unconscious, nor were there any signs that she had engaged in battle anywhere.

It was as if her ‘memory had been cleanly cut out’ for a brief moment.

As though someone had kneaded her mind.

“……Are you truly all right? Is there anything wrong with you……?”

“……No. I do not feel anything of the sort at all.”

Leaving Noel tilting her head, Aiden swallowed dryly.

And if it was someone capable of exerting that sort of ‘ability,’ then even Aiden could roughly narrow down who might be behind the current situation.

-System Log

▶ The target ‘???’ is satisfied with you.

▶ The target’s Affection Level is already at maximum.

There had been someone before whose name appeared in the System Window as nothing but question marks. That would likely become the most promising clue to approaching this being’s identity.

The problem was—

‘……Is this really the one who is supposed to appear right now?’

If it was someone capable of freely tampering with the mind of a monster on Noel’s level, then that was a being meant to appear only in the very final stages of the scenario.

And if it was such a being, then it was equally questionable why its Affection Level toward Aiden was supposedly at maximum.

However, it was also true that the situation was so urgent that I did not even have the leisure to ponder that deeply.

“-Was the sea level always like that?”

The Grand Sanctuary was, to begin with, a terrain in the form of an island, and that meant it was surrounded by the sea on all sides.

Especially in the case of the Black Night incident, whose core was to circle along the island’s outer perimeter, it was only natural that we would encounter such a sight even more frequently.

However, the sea level was now surging and heaving like mad.

If the wind blew strongly, that might explain it, but the speed at which the sea level was ‘rising’ was becoming increasingly abnormal.

◆ Unique Ability: Royal Bloodline

Members of the Royal House born with noble blood inherently exert a natural charisma that captivates the masses. When standing out before a large number of eyes, their ‘Charm’ increases explosively.

Additionally, they automatically resist certain forms of mental interference, and while this effect is active, certain ‘actions’ are triggered automatically.

Aiden possessed the ability to replicate, in situations like this, the charisma of those who stood at the very pinnacle of a nation.

However, simply gathering their attention would not immediately cause some dramatic reversal. He had merely drawn their ‘attention’; their circumstances had not improved at once.

Seeing all those gazes, reminiscent of dead fish eyes, converge on him, Aiden brushed back his hair, which was gradually becoming drenched by the rain falling from the sky, and spoke.

“Idiots.”

“…….”

“Pathetic bastards.”

“…….”

“Weren’t you all strutting around the Holy Crown Kingdom, flaunting yourselves as royals? What the hell are you all doing here?”

……It was clear he had no intention of beginning with words of encouragement meant to raise morale.

At the sudden barrage of insults, everyone blinked blankly. It was obvious that before anger or anything else, what they felt first was bewilderment.

But before even that bewilderment could fully settle in, the mockery spilling from Aiden’s mouth only grew harsher.

“Didn’t you all enter the succession ceremony of your own will because you had something you wanted to achieve? What, you came outside and it’s a little cold and tough, so now you want to go home? Miss your parents?”

“……Hey, wait.”

Julius, who had been listening from not far away, finally spoke in a voice that was beginning to lose its composure.

He likely meant to stop him, as if to say he was going too far, but Aiden’s words continued without the slightest concern.

“Then just give up.”

“……What?”

“At your level, that suits you perfectly. Losers licking each other’s wounds pitifully, saying later ‘there was nothing we could do back then,’ and consoling yourselves.”

“…….” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“I killed the dragon anyway, and all you did was suck your thumbs, right? I took first place in the Tournament, first place in the Burnt Offering ritual, and I’ll take first place in the Black Night ritual too. Isn’t that right?”

Alester, who had been listening quietly, began to open his eyes wider and wider.

This man, right now—

He was anchoring the core on the premise that the ‘succession ceremony’ was still ongoing.

Whether that was true or not did not matter. What mattered was making the people here believe it.

Make them angry. Make them furious. Cloud their judgment in a surge of intense emotion.

So that he could keep the situation under his control.

He was deliberately insulting them for that very reason.

“I’ll take the Pontiff’s seat, so you losers can just stand there sucking your thumbs.”

As Aiden grinned and raised his middle finger, discontented voices finally began to erupt from the surrounding royals.

But, in other words—

It was clearly working.

In the eyes of those who had been eroded by gloom, fear, anxiety, and helplessness, a spark of vitality began to take root.

And as Aiden watched that scene quietly, his own eyes sank endlessly deep.

Everything up to this point had been the reaction he anticipated.

As if intending to use this to move on to yet another ‘next stage.’

‘……This man.’

He was about to cause something again.

Sensing that instinctively, Alester let out a groan inwardly.