Hearing Harvis's words, Shien did not feel relieved. Instead, he frowned deeply.
"They gave up because they feared me?"
On the surface, that did seem like the most likely explanation.
It could not be helped. The power and influence Shien had displayed this time far exceeded ordinary imagination. It was perfectly normal for the Empire to not want to offend Shien over this, nor believe they could seize someone from under his nose.
Some might think that while an open spear was easy to dodge, a hidden arrow was hard to guard against. No matter how powerful Shien was, as long as they secretly abducted Tier without anyone noticing, would that not be enough?
Tier was still just Tier. She could not possibly stay by Shien's side forever. Once the two separated, there would still be plenty of opportunities.
But one should not forget that Merika had also been apart from Shien before. Yet when Merika encountered danger, Shien had arrived in time.
Perhaps that had only happened because the Goddess of Nature's revelation had informed Shien of it, but who could guarantee that the Goddess of Nature would not grant Shien another revelation if something happened to Tier?
Given that, it was understandable for House Laifirut to consider abandoning the operation.
However...
"House Laifirut wanted to make a move on Tier because of Moro's instructions, right?"
Then would Moro be intimidated by the power and influence Shien had displayed?
Impossible.
The reason was simple.
"If Moro is the mastermind behind the Cosmos incident who worked with Mirage, as I suspect, then she may know everything I did in Cosmos."
That included Shien crushing the Beastman Priest Corps by himself, Mirage being destroyed at Shien's hands, and even Shien using the Holy Sword and going all out against Lilith.
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