Copy Skills with Affinity! - Chapter 40

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈

Chapter 40: Delegation (2)

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Katia’s eyes were making fierce, nonverbal appeals.

Her expression seemed to be screaming, What were you thinking, doing something like this? But Aiden ignored her and moved her behind him.

‘... Her concern is justified.’

The Holy Empire certainly ranked among the five most powerful nations on the continent. Antagonizing one of its royals could turn the entire country against him.

Political consequences were not the only problem. There was also the immediate danger Laila could pose here.

Not everyone who wielded Divine Power could become royalty, but those who bore the title of royal were masters of Divine Power in one way or another.

The current Pontiff might stand at the very peak, but that did not change the fact that every royal was a threat.

“You’ve got some nerve.”

Laila’s cold voice flowed out as Divine Power rippled menacingly around her body.

“Think carefully before you act. Do you even know who you’re picking a fight with...”

“Five.”

“... What?”

“Four.”

“...”

“Three.”

... Ah.

He had said he would give her five seconds.

Aiden calmly continued the countdown, clearly proving his earlier words that this was not a conversation or negotiation. A thick vein rose on Laila’s forehead.

It was likely an expression of her resolve to respond properly from now on.

“Bring it.”

At Laila’s chilling order, the maid beside her swiftly brought over a box.

Inside was a bell-shaped sacred implement.

The expressions of everyone present twisted the moment they saw it.

There was a tale about Holy Empire royalty as well known as the obvious fact that they wielded Divine Power.

Royals whose qualifications were recognized were each granted a personal Holy Relic, which dramatically amplified the limits of the Divine Power they could wield.

In other words.

Those were the items royals took out when they truly wished to fight.

“Princess Laila, please stop! Any further actions will truly be regarded as hostility toward the Empire!”

Stella sprang to her feet in alarm, but Laila, who had brought out the relic first, remained as cold as ever.

“You were the ones who interfered in another family’s affairs first. Am I wrong?”

“This is something that can be resolved through later discussion. If this continues, it will truly become war...”

Before Stella could finish speaking, Divine Power burst from Laila’s body and rushed toward Aiden.

It was an attack without the slightest hesitation, so sudden that no one present could properly react.

Everyone moved in their own way. Stella drew her sword, while Katia tried to pull Aiden behind her.

But they were all too late.

Considering that everyone here would be called elite by their respective nations’ standards, it showed just how powerful Divine Power enhanced by a Holy Relic could be.

In other words.

Only one person properly reacted to that unexpected attack.

Aiden himself, who had prepared to take a hit like that from the beginning.

Ki and Divine Power flared up around him at once. It was a precise response at the precise moment, as though he had prepared for battle beforehand.

Still, a cruel smile briefly touched Princess Laila’s lips.

Even if he had reacted, she did not believe it would matter.

In output, casting speed, and destructive force, Laila’s Divine Power enhanced by the relic stood above everyone in this room. She did not believe anyone could truly respond to it.

The fatal strike was about to pierce Aiden. The outcome was already decided.

“Law, I swear.”

... That was, unless he was some aberration who could draw out Divine Power as quickly as Ki.

“This lowly one offers a prayer.”

As he recited Consecration and a vow at once,

Guardian’s Flame.

An ability belonging to Aiden alone, one no one else on the entire continent had ever wielded.

The pure white flames that unfolded in an instant ripped apart Princess Laila’s Divine Power just before it reached Aiden.

“What...!”

Laila’s eyes widened in shock.

She could have understood if their abilities had simply canceled each other out because their output was similar, or if hers had faded against an ability specialized in defense.

But the ability Aiden had used was attack-oriented, just like hers. It had clearly taken the form of Divine Power.

And for hers to be shattered without resistance when it collided with his meant only one thing.

His ability was clearly superior to hers.

“You said it yourself.”

Before she could recover from her shock, Aiden’s quiet voice fell over the room.

“An apology...”

Guardian’s Flame drew back.

It was aimed at Princess Laila’s leg, just as before.

“... Is made on your knees.”

Like an incoming storm, the flames surged forward.

They scattered every paladin rushing in to protect Princess Laila, broke through the other Divine Power she hastily summoned, and struck her leg like a whip.

Laila collapsed forward.

“...”

With the princess on her knees,

a dreadful silence immediately settled over the room.

For quite some time, Laila stared blankly at the floor.

She looked unable to accept the situation itself.

Even after taking out a Holy Relic and launching a strike aimed at his opening,

she had been completely overwhelmed from beginning to end.

“...”

And clearly, everyone shared that same disbelief.

Even in an emergency like this, no one moved first.

Except for one person whose priorities lay elsewhere.

Katia slammed into Aiden like a full-body tackle as he wielded Divine Power.

“I told you to stop!”

She cried out as she pinned him down.

Her golden eyes gleamed. She was truly furious.

“I told you not to get angry! Something really bad will happen! I told you I’m fine!”

“...”

... The fact that she was angry because she was worried about Aiden was a little cool.

But contrary to her manner, Aiden merely blinked and replied calmly.

“You don’t need to worry so much about me, Katia.”

“... What?”

As Katia answered in a daze, Aiden gently pushed her away and rose.

The silence hanging around them became even more dramatic after the immediate danger had passed, allowing Aiden’s words to carry clearly through the area.

“Princess.”

“...”

“Bring only one guard. Let’s not make this any bigger than it already is. We’ll settle this between the parties involved.”

“What do you mean by...”

Aiden lightly raised one hand toward Katia as she began to speak in alarm.

It was the exact same gesture Katia had used when stopping him earlier.

Its meaning was likely the same as well.

I’m fine. Do not interfere.

That was what it seemed to say.

“I’ll be back. To clean this up.”

... Though Katia could only hear it as a promise to teach a lesson to the people who had picked a fight with him again and again.

▣

Fortunately, Princess Laila agreed to Aiden’s suggestion without any particular resistance.

She must have been certain that continuing her hostility here would not let her break through Aiden’s defenses anyway.

Thus,

the four of them, Aiden and Stella, Princess Laila and her maid, faced one another silently on the rooftop of the government building.

A cool night breeze blew across the roof.

... Yet the frozen tension between the four was enough to make even that night wind feel tropical.

“You will pay the appropriate price for this, Princess Laila.”

Stella was the first to speak.

She normally acted almost like a statue, so she often seemed cold. But now, she radiated an atmosphere sharp enough to cut flesh. She was clearly making a considerable contribution to lowering the temperature around them...

“You were the ones who committed an unmistakably hostile act. You will certainly be held accountable for this...”

“No, Lady Stella. There’s no need.”

... Aiden felt bad interrupting her while she was so angry, but he scratched his head and cut in.

Lady Stella, whose gaze remained cold, immediately turned toward him.

“Pardon?”

It was a response telling him to stay quiet and not interrupt, but unfortunately, Aiden could not comply.

After all,

“They can’t be held accountable. There was never a person called Princess Laila in the first place.”

“... Pardon?”

“The Holy Empire grants royal status to anyone who can wield Divine Power beyond a certain level. That’s why it has the most complicated family tree on the entire continent.”

Aiden spoke calmly, glancing aside.

“It means that even if someone important slips in a royal with a false identity, it would be difficult to notice.”

“...”

Stella blankly blinked.

It was the natural response of someone who could not follow what Aiden was saying.

“What do you mean...?”

“Princess Laila exists only in the records. The person sent here as a representative is not actually her.”

He had found it strange from the start.

There was no way he could forget someone this conspicuous when he knew all the important information from the original story.

‘The premise itself was wrong.’

It was not that he had overlooked information.

A person who did not exist had simply appeared out of nowhere.

“So... anyway, you can stop acting now. We sent everyone else away so we could speak frankly.”

“... I have no idea what you mean.”

Laila’s face remained expressionless, but Aiden looked at her indifferently and replied.

“You’re a puppet.”

If he assumed from the beginning that this person was not royalty,

then the strange sense of discomfort he had felt when he first saw this woman’s face was easy to explain.

Aiden knew this person.

She was not important enough for him to remember clearly, and he had not recognized her immediately because she was someone who should never have appeared in a place like this.

“You’re neither royalty nor anything else. You’re not even human. You’re an illusion being moved by someone else.”

This was one of the faces that person often used to deceive others.

A mask belonging to someone who should never have appeared here.

“What are you talking...”

Aiden simply ignored Laila’s words and shifted his gaze to the side.

“So let’s stop this and have a proper conversation.”

He let out a sigh.

“I’m talking to you.”

... Aiden’s gaze was fixed on the maid standing silently beside Laila with her head bowed.

It was the same maid who had handed the Holy Relic to Laila earlier.

The maid’s eyes widened at his words.

“Y-yes?”