My dear Chief, don’t you have some major misunderstanding about me?

Seeing the red-haired Chief with a "go ahead, I can handle it" expression, Leon couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, then sighed with some exasperation:

"The Witch Kingdom is doing fine! Chief, why do you make it sound like I’m annihilating every place I visit?"

"Mm-hmm."

Humming noncommittally, the red-haired Chief raised his hand and pointed behind Leon to the "ruins."

"Isn’t that the sacrificial altar for the Witch King’s ceremony behind you? That’s a grand ceremony that happens only once every hundred years in the Witch Kingdom. How did it end up like this?"

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Leon turned back and saw that his "call background" indeed looked like a mess. He then scratched the back of his head involuntarily.

"I just dismantled the altar, but there were reasons for it..."

"Mm-hmm, I believe you."

Sighing with little sincerity, the red-haired Chief said:

"The Great Witch King is gone, right?"

"Indeed... but she passed away of old age, and she was about to leave even if I didn’t come."

"And then? Her daughter succeeded the throne, right?"

"Yes, who else would take the position?"

"Then, you and that Princess Catherine... mm... Queen Catherine, you seem to have a good relationship? And there are rumors spreading?"

"Uh..."

Looking back at the members of various associations being escorted away by the guards, pointing at him but not daring to speak out, Leon was silent for a moment before trying hard to explain:

"We... went through life and death together for a few days, so there’s definitely some camaraderie. As for the rumors, it was mainly because she came to me after taking a bath last night, and many people saw her on the way, but we were actually discussing how to set up an ambush..."

"Fine, let’s set the rumors aside for now."

Sighing, the red-haired Chief asked:

"I ask you, once she stabilizes her position on the throne, will she also immediately issue decrees to ally herself with you and Queen Veronica? To begin all-around cooperation with your Kingdom?"

"Well... our Kingdom has grain and minerals, and Crolock Kingdom’s technology. We’re already excellent partners, plus my camaraderie with Catherine, so... Catherine making such a decision seems pretty normal?"

Bah! Normal, my foot!

Seeing Leon’s innocent, almost wronged look as he rebuked whatever he said, the red-haired Chief couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

If it were actually normal, why do you always end up with all the good stuff? You seem to have an obsession with stuffing Queen Veronica’s pockets with things every time you go on field missions.

Three times on field missions, and you’ve changed three Kings, counting the time the Iron Princess attacked the palace. You’ve replaced four Kings of the Twelve Kingdoms already! And all the replacements have been Queens! You really are... if all this is truly coincidental, I’ll eat all the bottles in the warehouse!

"Whatever you say goes!"

Glancing at Leon without goodwill, the red-haired Chief rubbed his forehead, sighing:

"After all, it’s an attack from the Pillar God. It’s already a relief that you returned safely. Compared to surviving an attack from a Pillar God, these are small matters... by the way, how did you repel the Narration of Nonexistence?"

"I caught her."

"Oh, so you... what did you say?"

"I caught her."

Repeating himself, Leon adjusted the angle of the small mirror, pointing it at the three-headed black dog groaning on the ground from indigestion, and gestured at its belly:

"I can’t kill the Narration of Nonexistence yet, so I had to find a way to trap her. But although I caught her, the main credit should go to Matthew. If it weren’t for him carrying back the Narration of Nonexistence’s body..."

"You caught a Pillar God?!?!?!"

Confronted with such shocking news, even the usually composed red-haired Chief couldn’t help but feel his mind buzzing, unable to process what Leon said, eyes filled with shock, repeatedly asking:

"Not only did you repel the Narration of Nonexistence, but you also caught her?"

"Matthew and I caught her together, and his part might have been more crucial."

Correcting the Chief’s statement, Leon hesitated slightly before asking:

"Chief, how is Taurus’ injury from the ascension ceremony? Has she recovered?"

"About halfway, I suppose... why do you ask? Do you want her help in forging anomalous items?"

"Yes."

Leon nodded, with a slightly hesitant expression:

"Besides the Narration of Nonexistence, I’ve also acquired a lot of valuable materials this time, just that the quantity is a bit much. If I want them forged into a set, I’m worried Taurus can’t endure the high-intensity use of the secret technique."

"Don’t worry, it’s not that serious."

Shaking his head, the red-haired Chief explained with a chuckle:

"Even though Taurus was seriously injured at the time, and her soul and body aren’t fully synchronized, she’s still a director. Even if you caught seven or eight True Gods and sent them over, she’d handle it fine."

"But I caught nearly forty True Gods, she might not be able to withstand all that, right?"

"What?!"

"To be exact, I killed the bodies of thirty-nine True Gods, but let the souls of fifteen go, so it’s twenty-four complete True Gods and fifteen bodies left after their manifestation."

"What?!?!?!"

"Also, there’s a whole execution platform where thirty-nine True Gods died, thirty-nine execution stakes soaked in Divine Blood, a sniper rifle that killed thirty-nine True Gods, and a ritual mat soaked in Divine Blood... these should be forged as a set. Can Taurus handle that?"

"What?!?!?!?!?!"

Ha! That’s what you get for falsely accusing me!

Seeing the wide-eyed Chief in the mirror, too shocked for words beyond "what," Leon, feeling secretly satisfied, raised an eyebrow and feigned innocence:

"Chief? Why are you keeping your mouth open? Is the temperature too high and you need to use your tongue to dissipate heat?"

"..."

Bah! You’re the dog!

Realizing the implication in Leon’s words, the red-haired Chief quickly closed his mouth, glaring at him without good humor.

"You scared me! Never joke about such things again. The way you described it so vividly, I almost believed you really killed that many True Gods!"

"I wasn’t joking. Everything I said was true just now."

"Mm-hmm, it’s all true. The Slaughter King Association was half-destroyed by you alone. Our Leon is truly amazing ~"

Mimicking Leon’s earlier tone, sarcastically replying, the red-haired Chief, now calmer, exhaled deeply, opened a bottle of alcohol, took a swig, and with a sense of relief, said:

"In any case, it’s great that you’re alright. This past week, without a word from you, I couldn’t even drink the alcohol I purchased... wait, it seems Taurus has something to say."