Karya had seen plenty of people who admired him.
But there were very few as fanatical as Zoe...
And once you got mixed up with a fanatical fan, things got incredibly troublesome. Besides, Zoe seemed to have a serious grudge against Setaqa, and even a certain possessiveness.
In this situation, Karya immediately abandoned the idea of revealing his identity. Better to trick this girl into leaving first.
So, after clearing his throat, he began by denying that he was a descendant of Karya and Setaqa.
"Of course not. I swear."
Zoe was quite pleased with Karya's response—she felt he probably wasn't lying.
Of course he wasn't lying. How could Karya possibly be a descendant of Karya and Setaqa?
"Good." Zoe nodded, lowered her guard, and looked down at the mask in her hands. "I'll protect you, seeing as you gave me this mask. Can you tell me where you got it?"
"It's a handicraft." Karya shrugged, deciding to redirect her attention. "Shurima is trying to make a comeback, and they're digging up plenty of things from the Shuriman Empire era. How long has it been since you last paid attention to what's going on in Shurima?"
"Oh, is that so?" Zoe blinked, then cheerfully put on the mask. "It has been a while. I haven't been back in ages, not since that awful Twilight tricked me into leaving... Do you know how many years it's been since the Shuriman Empire's Fourth Dynasty?"
"The Fourth Dynasty?" Karya was clearly taken aback. "What's that?"
"Huh? You don't even know?" Zoe folded her arms. "It was, well, the Fourth Dynasty founded by the descendants of Karya and that wicked woman. I'm sure it's all gone to ruin. Everything goes wrong when that woman's involved!"
Karya's eye twitched. He decided to change the subject