If we were to pull some Le Epic Manga Moment™, this could be the chance he confesses his true ambition to his close aides, the Zhuge Liang-looking guy would surely approve for it’s omoshiroi of him. And at the very least the tribesmen recognized him as one.
I couldnt wait so I bought the novel. And while it’s deviated from the original source, this is one of the few rare occasions that the manga adaptation is (in my humble opinion) more preferable. Fine, I’ll wait.
I’m glad there is a 3rd party villain beyond the supposedly MC, hope the “MC” didn’t stereotypically get roped into forbidden power and become a storytelling stepstone late mid-boss with few lines of regret.