A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 138

After hearing the inside story of the Vampires' departure from Inquisitor ‘Louis Button’, I happened to find myself in the area where Jerry resided.

The guy's face suddenly came to mind, so I headed to the office where he usually stayed.

The place was maintained exactly as I remembered it.

『…It’s just the same.』

No particular feelings of sadness arose.

I had experienced the deaths of colleagues and friends countless times by then, and I had seen so many gruesome ends that Jerry's could even be called a good death.

Moreover, in a world turned upside down, he even had a grave, so it was truly a case where one could say, ‘He went well.’

Well, still, I couldn't help but think it would have been nice if he were alive.

『…Oh.』

As I was about to leave after scanning the room, something suddenly caught my eye.

Tucked between ancient tomes that bore the weight of time was a bundle of stiff paper that looked quite recent.

Wondering if someone other than me had visited, I pulled out the bundle, but that wasn't the case.

The handwriting densely packed on the paper was a perfect match for Jerry's.

It seemed he had written something new in the time between meeting me and his death.

[Jerry. Dracula]

I confirmed that he was the author from the name written at the beginning, but as I was about to lower my eyes, a thought suddenly struck me.

『…Has he ever written it like this?』

He had never once written his name as [Jerry. Dracula].

Jerry Junior.

Even on the rare occasions he revealed his surname, Dracula, he would always add 'Junior' at the end, saying 'Jerry Dracula Junior'.

『…Don't tell me.』

That was right.

The paper wasn't Jerry's own story.

Jerry Dracula Senior.

It was a transcription of Jerry Dracula Senior's last will, which had been left behind on the other side of the mana formula engraved on the earring.

Seeing as he hadn't told me, it seemed he hadn't noticed it until he met me before his death, but it appeared he had been examining the earring right up until his actual demise.

Hurriedly looking down at the text below, I couldn't help but be astonished.

[I, the seventy-fourth head of the Dracula family, Jerry Dracula, record my life.]

『…Hah.』

Because the story, which began by identifying himself, contained far more detailed and vast content than I had expected.

[I, the seventy-fourth head of the Dracula family, Jerry Dracula, record my life.]

Judging by the volume and the care taken, this was not something written after a day or two of thought.

It was truly a will prepared in advance.

[…The Vampire Clan was the clan in charge of the Beastkin's combat, and among them, the Dracula family, with its outstanding abilities and extraordinary strategic mind, was a prestigious combat family entrusted with protecting the Beastkin royal family alongside the Silver Wolf Tribe's Lycan clan….]

From the background of their origins to the life of the one called the strongest Vampire in history and the emotions woven into it.

[…My oldest memory is from the age of 4. It was the memory of unconsciously recreating a Blood Demon Art I had seen over someone's shoulder. Seeing the reactions of those around me, I realized. That I was born quite differently from other ordinary Vampires.]

It was less a will and more an epic saga, detailing every process from beginning to end.

[…At that time, a brilliant idea came to me. If the balance of the neutral zone had tilted because of my appearance, then all I had to do was disappear again.]

It even included the decision Dracula himself made when the Vampire Clan left the Beastkin and headed for the Demon King's Territory, and the deliberations that followed.

[…I decided to defect to the Demon King's Territory. Although it currently maintains the status of a neutral nation, the macroscopic flow is ultimately leading to a bipolar system between the two great powers. In reality, even among the regions with neutral status, some areas have already been encroached upon politically, economically, socially, and culturally….]

[…I didn't know exactly when, but if the Beastkin Nation had to choose one of the two great powers in the future, it would have been the Order's Territory. However, if I were to defect to the Order's Territory, there would likely be a backlash from within the Beastkin Nation. Heading to the Demon King's Territory was the right choice. The Order had also made contact with me first….]

However.

The part where this will truly gained its meaning was what came after.

The anguish after moving to the Demon King's Territory from Dracula's own perspective, going beyond the superficial story I had heard from Inquisitor Louis Button.

[…I did not set a date. The return would be when several conditions were met. When the Order had finished dealing with the Demonic Species hiding in the neutral zone to some extent, and when the distorted balance of the neutral zone had somewhat returned to normal.]

[If the balance could not be established, there was also the option of returning by having the Beastkin Nation join the Order's forces. Until then, we had to build our strength and thoroughly conceal our connection with the Order.]

And, why he had led the Beastkin Nation to its ruin.

[…The balance of the neutral zone did not return easily. It seemed it was gradually becoming time to go back. Rumors were heard that the Beastkin Nation was slowly stepping down from its role as the leader of the neutral zone. It seemed the importance of the Vampire Clan was greater than I had thought….]

[…A problem arose. Once a year. The carrier pigeon that delivered updates from the Order did not arrive.]

[…I found the carrier pigeon. It was dead behind the mansion. An inverted cross was drawn on its chest in red blood.]

[…It was clear that the Demon King had discovered our secret communication with the Order, but for some reason, no particular action was taken… I couldn't guess what he wanted, what he was thinking.]

[…The newly appointed strategist came to visit. He ordered me to the neutral zone, the ‘Beastkin Nation’, as the next battlefield for the War against Demons.]

[…It was then I realized. That the Demon King was forcing a choice upon me. The Beastkin and the Vampire Clan. He had handed me the choice, telling me one of the two had to see an end.]

It even described the day of the Beastkin Nation's fall, which was shrouded in mystery, and the story behind it.

[…It was a bad move. Joining the Demon King's Army was a self-destructive move from the start. The Demon King hadn't accepted us because we were foolish. It was merely because we had value to be used.]

[…Once, no, still, our homeland was the Beastkin Nation. I could not bring myself to make the Vampire Clan commit fratricide. They were the Vampire Clan who had followed me to the Demon King's Territory without a word of complaint. I couldn't possibly give the order to attack the Beastkin Nation.]

[…But if I didn't, it seemed certain that the clan would be annihilated. The eyes of the strategist, who was from the Order's Territory, as he scanned our clan were not normal. Besides, he was the real traitor.]

[…Disaster. A dilemma. I had no idea what to do. It felt like being trapped in a bottomless pit.]

[…In the end, I made a decision. To head to the Beastkin Nation alone.]

Although it wasn't stated in the narrative, according to Louis's testimony and Jerry's investigation, Count Dracula's military power at the time had grown strong enough that he could fight a war against the Beastkin Nation single-handedly and not lose.

A man born with the greatest talent, who then defected to the Demon King's Territory and gained immense combat experience in a short period through the War against Demons—the synergistic effect produced an exponential increase in power.

In particular, his familiars, gathered from various battlefields, each possessed power equivalent to or greater than a Named-level entity.

For him, who had reached the pinnacle of the Blood Demon Art, there was no limit to the number of his familiars.

Well, of course.

It didn't hold much meaning since he wasn't actually going to wipe out the entire Beastkin race.

[…Destroy the organization known as the Beastkin Nation, but minimize the actual damage suffered by the Beastkin by making them head towards the Order's Territory.]

[…It was hard to call it a brilliant move. No, in fact, it was closer to a foolish choice. It was the act of tearing down my own country with my own hands, and after this, it would probably be impossible for the Vampire Clan to ever return to the fold of the Beastkin.]

[…Furthermore, I was also aware that the treatment of the Vampire Clan after I was gone would not be good. They would probably be treated as consumables of war.]

[…But it couldn't be helped. For the moment, both sides had to live. A binary choice of annihilating either the Beastkin or the Vampire Clan was an impossible one for me to make.]

[…I could only hope that someone in a future generation, carrying on my will, would rebuild the scattered and collapsed Beastkin Nation, and return the Vampire Clan to the fold of the Beastkin once more….]

Dracula's choice was, as he said, a foolish one, but it was the best he could do in his own way.

The situation he was in was extremely dire from the start.

Even if he had chosen his clan and destroyed the Beastkin Nation, it would have been impossible for the Vampire Clan to survive in the Demon King's Territory, having already been branded as traitors. And if he had done nothing and rebelled, his clan would have been exterminated as he predicted.

Besides, in the end, his objective was achieved.

Somehow, the descendants of the Dracula clan who carried on his lineage had survived, and the Beastkin, though scattered in terror and turned into wretched refugees who had lost their former glory, had also survived.

[…I was called the strongest, but I am a weak being who could not even save his homeland.]

[…I was a leader, but I led my clan to their deaths.]

[…I did my best, but I achieved nothing.]

[Therefore, I have nothing of great worth to pass on to the one reading this will.]

[I merely leave behind my unfulfilled wish as my will, along with the Blood Demon Art that I managed to achieve, following my predecessors.]

[…I do not know who you are, but I ask of you.]

[If, at the time you are reading this, the Beastkin and our Vampire Clan still exist, reveal the truth, sincerely apologize, and rebuild the nation of our clans.]

[For that is what I truly wished for….]

Jerry Dracula's will ended there.

A few bloodstains splattered near the end told me that Jerry's condition had been deteriorating to a critical state by the time he finished transcribing this.

『Unfortunately, the Vampire Clan is no more, old man Dracula.』

『…Well, it seems you were barking up the wrong tree in the first place, anyway.』

I muttered it as a joke, but it was a matter of course.

Because only one who inherited the blood of a Vampire could read this will.

It was a will that could only be read at the very end, even in the Order's treasury, and even by Jerry, who had already been studying the earring for a long time.

Originally, this wasn't something a normal person like me should have been able to read.

And fulfilling it was even more out of the question.

Placing the bundle of papers back in its original spot, I closed the door again and muttered as I left.

『…I'll think about it after I regress.』

Thud-