How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 98

The sight of him sweating profusely and asking for my help, unable to come up with a plausible excuse, had completely vanished.

 

After saving him from drowning, instead of thanking me, Fenrir pushed me towards the water’s edge. When I glared at him, he began to feel guilty and defended me.

 

[Hmm, I still think Laura’s innocence and lack of worldly knowledge are her strengths.]

 

Although it wasn’t much help to me.

 

Glaring at Fenrir, I let out a shallow sigh and spoke up.

 

“Actually, I don’t know much about the nobles of the Euphrates Kingdom either. At best, I only know about the royalty of other kingdoms.”

 

I was about to make an excuse that I didn’t know about Xenon, but Fenrir, oblivious, added a comment.

 

[Xenon would be sad to hear that. He was proud that his family’s status was on par with the royalty of other kingdoms.]

 

A retort that Xenon’s pride was none of my business rose to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it hard.

 

It was obvious that pointing it out would only lead to a pointless conversation.

 

‘It’s better to wrap this up quickly rather than waste time.’

 

Having made that judgment, I tried to change the topic without responding to his comment, but this time Yves, who had been observing us, intervened.

 

“I don’t think Laura needs to worry about the feelings of the young Duke Achelide.”

 

[What?]

 

For a moment, Yves and Fenrir’s gazes crossed, and it felt like sparks were flying in the air.

 

‘Yves said exactly what I wanted to say, so I feel relieved…’

 

The atmosphere seemed to be turning unusual, so I tried to intervene before unnecessary tension escalated. Fortunately, Huluppu stepped in first.

 

[Now, now, both of you calm down. If you don’t behave, I’ll kick both of you out of here.]

He wore a gentle and soft smile, like a newly sprouted bud, but his words carried a sharp edge that felt menacing.

 

Since it was Huluppu’s space, it seemed that even if Yves had entered without meeting the 

conditions, Huluppu could kick him out if he didn’t like him, regardless of qualifications.

 

[Ahem, understood.]

 

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Neither of them wanted to be forcibly ejected, so they quickly toned down their aggression.

 

‘Is this the authority of the host?’

 

I was inwardly impressed by Huluppu, who had swiftly resolved the situation, when he spoke to me in a softer tone.

 

[Sorry. Fenrir was probably upset because Laura didn’t recognize him.]

 

“Huh?”

 

[Since the young Duke Achelide is the only human on the continent who has contracted with a divine beast, he must have thought you’d naturally know about him. This guy has a bit of pride in himself, too. Please understand.]

 

According to Huluppu, Fenrir kept bringing up Xenon’s family and scolding me because I didn’t recognize him.

 

‘Did he think everyone in the world knew about him?’

 

“That’s quite an excessive self-consciousness…”

 

I meant to keep it to myself, but it was so astonishing that it slipped out.

 

“…I mean, I’m from another kingdom, so it’s possible I wouldn’t know.”

 

Noticing my mistake, I quickly changed my tone, but Fenrir, already offended, flared up in anger.

 

[I’m famous enough that even the commoners in the far-off Kingdom of Kishar know about me!]

 

“If someone isn’t interested, isn’t it possible they wouldn’t know?”

 

Honestly, I didn’t even know where the Kingdom of Kishar was, so I shamelessly retorted, thinking it was entirely possible not to know about a ducal family in the Babylonian Empire. But Fenrir’s voice showed no signs of calming down.

 

[Even so! Xenon became the youngest Sword Master and, on top of that, was the first human to slay a dragon, causing a huge stir across the continent! How could anyone not know about him? Of course, I played a significant role in helping him defeat the dragon.]

 

I ignored the last sentence, where he boasted about his own greatness, and instead marveled at Xenon’s achievements.

 

Even with my limited knowledge of this world, it sounded impressive.

 

[Ahem, anyway, unless you’ve lived your entire life isolated in the mountains, cut off from human society, everyone would have heard of the Achelide ducal family or divine beasts at least once.]

 

Having finished his self-praise, Fenrir seemed to feel awkward and quickly wrapped up his speech with a cough, implying that it was abnormal not to know about the Achelide family or divine beasts.

 

But I, who had been silently listening to his rant, also felt unfairly treated.

 

After all, Laura’s memories contained no such information, and even in the game, Xenon’s title—let alone his family name—had never been revealed.

 

‘If I had known even a little about Xenon back then, I wouldn’t have ended up in prison in the Euphrates Kingdom.’

 

If Selene, who had come to the Laurus barony, had made that insane request for me to go to the guillotine because she needed to meet Xenon, I might have been able to coax her into helping arrange their meeting. 

 

If I had even a scrap of information about him.

 

In the original story, Xenon was only described as a noble from the Babylonian Empire who had briefly visited the Euphrates Kingdom to explore ancient ruins, so I hadn’t been able to come up with any alternatives.

 

‘Wait. Hold on, didn’t Selene know everything about Xenon from the start?’

 

If he was such a well-known figure that even Fenrir found it frustrating, it made no sense for Selene, who had gone through multiple regressions, not to know about him.

 

Therefore, if she had wanted to, she could have met him without needing to send me to the guillotine.

 

The fact that she had gone all the way to the Babylonian Empire to bring him here proved that much.

 

‘Then why on earth was she so fixated on sending me to the guillotine?’

 

Just as I was about to dive into this new question that had suddenly surfaced, Huluppu’s serious voice cut through my long train of thought.

 

[Fenrir, that’s enough. Don’t mention the young Duke Achelide anymore.]

 

[But…]

 

[If you don’t like it, you can leave. I won’t stop you.]

 

[…Fine.]

 

Fenrir backed down at Huluppu’s firm tone.

 

[More importantly, there’s something I want to ask Laura.]

 

“Huh?”

 

Just moments ago, Huluppu had said there was no particular reason for calling me, but now he suddenly mentioned having something to ask. I looked at him with a puzzled expression, and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck before speaking.

 

[Actually, it’s a question I was planning to bring up once things were more certain, but for some reason, I feel like I won’t be able to see you for a while after today…]

 

Seeing Huluppu hesitate and trail off while glancing at Yves made the stress I’d built up from bickering with Fenrir melt away.

 

‘This is healing.’

 

Feeling much more relaxed, I nodded cheerfully and spoke up.

 

“Of course. I’ll answer sincerely, so feel free to ask anything.”

 

[You remember when another saintess candidate came to the Laurus barony to find you? You two had a rather long conversation alone. Do you recall that?]

 

His voice was calm and languid, but the content was important enough to snap me to attention.

 

‘I thought Huluppu wouldn’t know about regression or possession since they’re invisible, but now that I think about it, I did have that conversation with Selene.’

 

I had assumed Huluppu wouldn’t know about regression or possession.

 

After all, while Huluppu had the incredible ability to observe anywhere his roots reached, his limitations were also clear.

 

Observing, by definition, relies on sight.

 

Since I assumed his roots functioned like human eyes, I naturally thought he wouldn’t be aware of invisible phenomena like regression or possession.

 

‘But if he also has auditory capabilities, that changes things.’

 

Back then, there was no special barrier like Fenrir’s, so Huluppu must have heard the entire conversation between Selene and me.

 

Therefore, it was highly likely that he knew Selene was regressing.

 

‘He might even be under the impression that I’m regressing too…’

 

While I was lost in these thoughts, Huluppu made a statement I hadn’t anticipated at all.

 

[I don’t know what you talked about that day.]

 

“Huh? Why not?”

 

His words left me even more flustered. I couldn’t tell if he knew everything and was testing me or if he genuinely didn’t know and was asking out of curiosity.

 

[Strangely, my abilities don’t work on the other saintess candidate.]

 

[What?]

 

Fenrir reacted vehemently the moment Huluppu finished speaking. He looked more serious than I’d ever seen him.

 

[That’s impossible. How could a mere human evade your abilities?]

 

[That’s why I initially wondered if the other saintess candidate might be an incarnation of Nanna.]

 

[That doesn’t make sense either. The gods made a covenant, so…]

 

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but could you explain in a way that a mere human like me can understand?”