A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 121

“…….”

The Exorcist's base of operations.

It was the dead of night when everyone was asleep, but Leonardo Louis Button was still sitting in his office.

…It wasn't that he was doing something urgent.

He was just sitting with a single candle lit, repeatedly opening and closing an empty Gold Cube.

Dal-kak-

Seureureuk-

How long had he been repeating this?

Pfft-

Louis muttered, a corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk.

“…Anxious.”

It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a very long time.

After changing his appearance to suppress his emotional turmoil, his feelings rarely showed on the surface.

For Louis, who, as a Priest, valued controlling his emotions, this was a matter that hurt his pride.

Of course, he couldn't deny the existence of the feeling of anxiety itself.

The very fact that he was still awake, clicking the cube open and shut, was clear proof of his own anxiety.

“…Impressive in many ways.”

The reason for his anxiety was, of course, U-jin, who was wandering the dungeon even at this very moment.

Dal-kak-

In fact, looking at it objectively, it wasn't a situation where Louis should feel anxious.

It was The Order's judge, not him, who had thrown U-jin into the Darkest Dungeon, and strictly speaking, U-jin was simply paying the price for what he had done.

While it was true there were disagreements about the severity of the crime and the verdict, there was no need for Louis to feel responsible for U-jin.

Seureureuk-

Well.

If he had to pick one reason, it would be that he had made another proposal to U-jin, who was originally supposed to serve his sentence in the Darkest Dungeon and get out.

And the fact that this proposal was quite dangerous for U-jin could spark a shred of responsibility, but even that wasn't something Louis had forced.

Louis had merely made a proposal, and it was strictly U-jin himself who had decided to accept it.

It was U-jin's choice, and since Louis's proposal offered an ‘Indulgence’ as a reward, Louis couldn't exactly be said to have the upper hand.

Rather, if successful, it was a deal that could be considered more advantageous for U-jin, given the value of the Indulgence.

In fact, it was a decision Louis himself had made after much deliberation.

So, what was the reason for this ‘anxiety’ that kept him up night after night?

Tak-

“…I hope it's possible.”

Louis muttered as he put down the Gold Cube and took out the Signal Card.

…That was it.

He had simply called it anxiety.

But anxiety wasn't a feeling defined solely by ‘worry or unease’.

Sometimes, anxiety was also triggered by ‘anticipation’.

The reason Louis had been feeling anxious was less the anxiety of worrying that something might happen to U-jin, and more a feeling mixed with a certain ‘anticipation’.

The anticipation that U-jin might succeed in ‘extracting the Quark's Source Stone,’ something no one but the ‘Saintess’ had ever accomplished.

It was because of that anticipation that he was losing sleep at night, feeling anxious.

“……”

Staring at the Signal Card, which was shining brightly on its own, Louis suddenly took out the necklace from his breast pocket.

Thinking of U-jin had suddenly brought back memories of the Saintess.

『I'll be in your care.』

『…….』

『Priest Louis.』

He had once served the Saintess.

It was quite some time ago now, during his days as a Priest before receiving the title of Inquisitor.

Among the various duties he had undertaken to become a High Priest, ‘serving the Saintess’ was one of them.

It wasn't the first duty he'd been assigned, nor was it particularly difficult, but it was the one Louis himself would admit he was the most ‘clumsy’ at.

Paradoxically, that was why it was the most memorable duty for Louis.

“……”

Thinking back on it now, Louis thought it was a great fortune that he had served the Saintess back then.

Though he was a Priest, until that time, he had hoped to become an Inquisitor not out of a sense of mission or any lofty, noble belief.

It was simply because it was the highest position he could attain.

If he had ascended to this position for such a shallow reason, without ever having met the Saintess, the Leonardo Louis Button of today would not exist.

Therefore, the meaning the ‘Saintess’ held for Louis was bound to be significant.

Louis was inspired by the Saintess's character and inner self, which were on a different level from others.

He had become a Priest because he had always believed in God, but it was only after meeting her that he gained a faith that made him truly proud to call himself a priest of God.

The thought that someone born a human could be so benevolent and self-sacrificing was, for him, tantamount to a re-proof of God's existence.

Admiration? Compassion?

He himself couldn't pinpoint what emotion he had felt for her in those days, what meaning she had given him beyond being the subject of his service.

But one thing was certain.

She was the most important person in Louis's life.

And she was a person desperately needed by The Order, and by the countless people of the continent suffering under the Demon King.

『…Sir Button. I am fine.』

Of course, such thoughts existed only in Louis's mind.

The Saintess, who was once said to be the one who would revive The Order and the key to the War against Demons, had ironically now become a figure whose name was most avoided.

‘Blasphemy.’

She was imprisoned under such a ridiculous false accusation.

Although her sentence wasn't finalized as the final trial hadn't taken place, she was already being secretly referred to as a ‘dissident’ and treated no differently from The Order's traitor, Isaac Einstein.

Naturally, Louis, who knew the Saintess's true character better than anyone, thought the accusation was absurd and had even visited her in person.

But he couldn't take any significant action due to the Saintess's refusal, saying she would accept only his sentiment.

He could only secretly investigate the details of the case while pondering various methods in his own mind.

『…Then, I'll see you then.』

Pfft-

For a moment, U-jin's face overlapped with the image of the Saintess drawn in his mind.

“…A Saint?”

Muttering a ridiculous joke, Louis chuckled and shook his head.

The two were so dissimilar that the expression ‘not at all’ was an understatement.

Compared to the benevolent Saintess, U-jin had a strangely cunning side.

And the Saintess's words and deeds were so sacred that it was audacious to even compare U-jin to her.

But strangely, Louis got a similar feeling from U-jin as he did from the Saintess.

How should he put it?

Just as the Saintess had helped Louis grow one step further as a Priest, U-jin also seemed to be a person who could help him reach the next step—that was what they had in common, perhaps.

He was an unknown man, but at least he seemed important.

No, the expression ‘he has already become important’ was more accurate now.

There had never been a person Louis had taken this much interest in and intervened with, and from the moment he made the deal with the Indulgence on the line, Louis had been placing this much hope in U-jin.

‘An important person for some unknown reason.’

It was a vague description with no clear answers, but to Louis, that was truly his definition of U-jin.

Whether their acquaintance was short or long, no further description was possible.

To simply call him a Plane Transcendent from a Lower-Dimensional Plane left too many things unexplained.

And he knew nothing of the hidden truths or secrets behind those unexplained parts.

The only guess he could make was from the fact that, unlike his ordinary appearance, his Demonic Nature value was absurdly low, comparable to the Saintess's.

A vague guess that the class of his soul was different from that of ordinary people.

There were still many parts that didn't make sense, but this was how Louis defined the U-jin he had experienced so far.

Woooong-

Well, anyway.

That was a story that would only have meaning if U-jin succeeded in extracting the Quark's Source Stone and sent a signal with this Signal Card.

If U-jin ultimately couldn't get out of the Darkest Dungeon, the conclusion of this deliberation was bound to be that U-jin was wrong.

“…Succeed, Mr. Seo U-jin.”

…It went without saying, but Louis hadn't made a deal with U-jin simply to extract the Quark's Source Stone.

Of course, as the head of the Exorcists who hunt Demonic Species, the shortage of Quark was a top priority issue to be solved.

But if Quark was truly his only goal, rather than waiting on a low-probability bet of extracting the Source Stone, it would have been much safer and more probable for Louis to go out and mine Quark himself.

The reason he had made the deal with U-jin, offering an Indulgence, was because he had another purpose besides the Quark.

『…Saintess.』

『Speak, Priest Louis.』

『…Are you the one the messiah spoke of in the prophecy?』

Back when Louis was a Priest.

When he was deeply inspired by the Saintess, Louis had asked her a question.

He asked if she was the person the messiah had spoken of in the prophecy.

Though it was in the form of a question, in his heart at the time, Louis was somewhat certain.

More than anyone he had ever seen, the Saintess resembled the character and appearance of the messiah described in the scriptures.

If the prophecy was true, he had thought the protagonist must be the Saintess.

…But.

『Hehe. No.』

Her answer to his question was swift and firm.

『…Pardon?』

A swift and firm denial.

An immediate response without a hint of hesitation.

『I am not such a great person.』

The words she added were also hard for Louis to agree with.

She was the living witness of miracles, who had caused more signs and wonders than anyone and had personally extracted the Source Stone of Quark, which was called the demon's stone.

If she wasn't a great person, then who in the world was?

But Louis's mouth, about to retort, was stopped by her next words.

『Hehe… I'll tell you this in advance, Sir Louis. The one who will come after me is a far greater person.』

『…….』

『Of course, I don't know if they will come or not…….』

It was an incomprehensible story.

For the Louis of that time.

And for the Louis looking back now.

But he had a vague inkling.

Even if he didn't look like it on the surface, and even if no one else thought so.

If, as the Saintess said, someone was truly destined to come after her.

The thought that it might be U-jin.

In the end, that was why Louis had asked U-jin to extract the Source Stone.

Of course, just extracting the Source Stone wouldn't be substantial evidence to be certain of anything.

But if he could do that much, Louis felt he could be inwardly convinced.

He had offered up his own Indulgence and made the request because he thought that even if it couldn't be physical proof to show others, it could at least become a personal conviction for himself.

And U-jin.

“…This is.”

Did not betray Louis's faith.

Paaat-

[The activation condition for ‘Artifact: Signal Card’ has been met.]