@Doomer
the highlander rule because they are the most powerful, MC is more powerful than them meaning fuck the highlanders MC is in control now. would these inbred morons be willing to go to war with MC over this propped up sadist? doubt it.
Yea, that's a possible take and it's the easy one for the story so it might happen that way.
But realism says "highlanders rule because they have all the guns that can kill monsters", and "MC can't kill all monsters on her own because she's just one and monsters are everywhere, so guns are still needed at least for the next dozen years".
And highlanders probably won't go to war over this dude (who is probably on this mission because highlanders don't want to risk getting dirty themselves, so they let grounders pay a lot of money to be envoys for them), but they might go to war over the prejudice of killing envoys.
Buut if he spontaneously combusts, well, that's just an accident. Or maybe his slave suddenly somehow snapped and killed him. As long as it can be handled in an amiable manner, he can probably be killed without issue, but something that smells of a challenge against the highlands will probably be met with sanctions. (Highlands don't need to go to war, they can let the monsters handle it.) And sure, MC might be able to handle that, but she'd reveal her abilities (and people will still be scared and might not trust her, wanting to make up with the highlanders because they are a known partner).
Aneeyway, at least this cliffhanger caused some speculation. XD