A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 140

A half-destroyed yard.

One of the walls was completely demolished as if someone had intentionally knocked it down, and the ground was pitted with craters here and there.

A faint haze of dust had yet to settle, proving that a tense battle had taken place just moments ago.

And in the middle of it all stood an antique, flower-patterned table.

Teacups were placed on the table, and two mismatched men, Tom and Jerry, sat facing each other.

Watching the scene from a distance, Eliya asked.

“…What in the world is this mess?”

“Well, just.”

“……”

“A little happening.”

Eliya’s face crumpled at U-jin’s nonchalant reply, as if it were nothing.

“I almost had to carry out two corpses, and you call this a happening….”

Eliya had a rough idea that U-jin would bring a man named Tom Hardist.

Jerry had hinted at it while U-jin was away, and if, as U-jin said, entering the Darkest Dungeon was part of his plan, it was obvious he would bring back something extraordinary this time as well.

However, a situation where they stormed in, ready to kill each other, was outside her scope of expectations.

Of course, she hadn't expected the relationship between a Vampire and a Vampire Hunter to be amicable.

That much was so obvious it didn't even need to be said.

Still, she had thought that if he was going to bring him here personally, he would have sorted things out to some extent and brought him over after they had come to an agreement.

‘…….’

Well, it seemed that once again, things had gone according to the intentions of this man whose mind she couldn’t read.

But from the perspective of an acolyte priest who had to assist him, it was impossible to keep up with his rhythm.

“…Reconciliation won’t happen that easily, you know.”

Although Eliya hadn't been able to intervene in the sudden situation and had only watched from afar, she had grasped the general state of affairs.

It seemed there was deep-rooted bad blood between Tom and Jerry, and U-jin, needing them both, was trying to make them reconcile.

But this wasn't just a matter of the two not getting along; it was a conflict between their races that was difficult to resolve with their emotions alone.

Of course, he had somehow managed to bring to the surface the fact that there were some misunderstandings between them, but the history between them was too deep.

In Eliya’s opinion, it was unlikely that the two would suddenly be locking arms and singing kumbaya just by sharing a few words over teacups.

As Eliya spoke as if she knew this all too well, U-jin smirked and replied.

“It’s possible.”

“……”

“The environment might change, but people rarely do.”

After saying that, U-jin slowly began to walk towards the table where they were sitting.

And.

Watching him from behind, Eliya muttered softly with a sigh.

“…That’s because neither of them are ‘just people’.”

* * *

Silence hung over the table he arrived at.

It wasn't just quiet; it felt as if a forbidden boundary had been drawn, where no action was permitted.

The teacups, brought out to be drunk, were growing cold without being touched, and the two men stared at each other in silence.

Scrape-

And that silence was broken the moment I pulled out a chair to sit down.

“…Get to the point.”

Before I had even fully sat down, Tom Hardist, who had been glaring at Jerry with his arms crossed, spoke.

The man muttered in a low, heavy voice, his gaze fixed.

“I’ve already backed down twice. If you don’t give me an explanation I can accept, I’ll crush you all right now.”

As he said, he had already passed up two chances to kill him, so the threat lacked some credibility, but Tom, at least, seemed to be serious.

“…Hmph.”

The only reason I was able to create this opportunity for discussion, in a situation where it wouldn't have been strange for Jerry's head to fly off at any moment, was because of a single piece of information I had given the man.

‘…She’s alive. *Cough*.’

‘……?’

‘…She's alive. The princess.’

At the time of the Beastkin Nation’s fall, the memory most deeply ingrained in Tom Hardist's mind was the death of his family.

But the next thing that held great significance was the disappearance of the princess.

The princess, who was designated as the successor to the previous king, was the most important figure, the only bloodline that could continue the royal family, especially with the king's death confirmed.

And Tom, as a member of the Royal Guard at the time, had been entrusted with protecting the princess, but she had disappeared while his mind was preoccupied with the death of his family.

This was also why Tom still felt guilt for the destruction of the Beastkin Nation and felt he, too, was responsible.

If only the princess had survived, the Beastkin, who had scattered in panic and become refugees all over the Orders’ Territory, would have had a focal point to rally around.

If so, things would never have reached their current state.

Although he hadn't directly participated in the destruction of the Beastkin Nation, he believed that the current situation had occurred because he had failed to secure the princess.

And in truth, it couldn't be said that his failure had no influence on the current plight of the Beastkin.

Therefore.

“Valencia la Vael Tigris.”

I first revealed her name.

“……!”

A crack appeared in Tom’s motionless posture, and his eyes widened noticeably.

“You told me to get to the point. If I hadn't said her name, you would've just gone on about how you couldn't believe me or whatever, right?”

…The developments up to this point had been a bit precarious, but it wasn't as if I had made these two meet without any plan.

Both were essential figures in my plan, and I had made preparations to prevent things from escalating to an extreme.

The ace up my sleeve was this.

The name of the Beastkin princess.

Some might say, what's so great about knowing a name, but the name of the Beastkin Nation's princess was not something one could easily find out.

“……”

While there was no clear rule like a law, it was a traditional custom that the Beastkin Nation had tacitly observed to keep the princess's real name a secret until her coming-of-age ceremony.

It was a secret that no one knew except for the king who gave the name and the princess herself.

The only reason Tom knew her name was not because he was officially told, but because the princess, telling him to not tell anyone, had secretly shared it only with Tom, who was in charge of her protection.

From Tom's perspective, it was only natural for him to be surprised when I mentioned her name directly.

He couldn't be certain, but he had no choice but to think that I might know something about the missing princess.

Screech-

I pulled out a chair and sat down.

I could clearly see Tom's agitated state.

Flop-

“I want the Beastkin to function as a power again. For that, they need a focal point.”

The Beastkin valued bloodlines.

“You two know it best. You can't form a power just by gathering the scattered Beastkin.”

It wasn't simply that it was the most important thing among others; the system based on bloodline was so ingrained in their genes that no other system could possibly interfere.

This was also why the Beastkin who had entered the Orders' Territory had not been able to belong to any nation.

In the early days after the fall of the Beastkin Nation, most of the kingdoms in the Orders' Territory, which had monarchical political systems, tried to absorb the powerful Beastkin.

But the Beastkin were beings who could not serve anyone other than the king of the Beastkin Nation who inherited the bloodline, not even as a formality.

The situation was the same for republics that advocated for majority rule; they couldn't agree to that either.

Their innate nature and culture itself had forced them into a refugee's life in the Orders' Territory.

Therefore, the Beastkin needed a king.

A gathering of Beastkin without a king, especially the now-weakened Beastkin, would just become an indecisive organization, unable to choose one way or the other.

“The location is the village of Aileen in the northeastern part of the Orders' Territory.”

“……”

“It's in a kingdom called Empel, but you don't really need to know the name. It has no Constellation to speak of, nor has it produced any famous Heroes.”

“……”

“Just think of it as a grain-producing nation that mainly grows wheat.”

At the abruptly stated destination, Jerry asked cautiously.

“…Are you saying she is there?”

“Yeah. The location is certain, so you don't need to ask twice.”

“That can’t be…”

At my firm confirmation, Tom muttered softly.

It wasn't the same disbelief and surprise he had shown before, but a voice tinged with a question, as if he couldn't understand something.

It was only natural.

There was no plausible reason for her to be there.

Tom, who had searched the entire continent for Valencia, would not have wandered into such a remote country village.

He seemed unable to comprehend the fact that the princess had been hiding for 100 years in a town he was likely hearing about for the first time.

“…Why.”

He seemed unable to understand why she would have let the Beastkin Nation fall into such a state.

Just as the members of the Beastkin showed strong loyalty to the royal family, the royal family was famous for its extraordinary affection and sense of responsibility for all Beastkin.

“That’s something you can find out when we get there.”

“……”

“Anyway, I'm planning to go look for her. The decision is yours. Are you coming? If you do, I'll take it as you agreeing with me from now on.”

It wasn't so much a question of their actual intentions as it was a statement to make them commit to their own choice.

That guy Jerry quietly nodded his head.

“…I will go and confirm it with my own eyes.”

And Tom, though half-heartedly, also expressed his consent.

“Alright, then.”

Heave-ho.

Getting up from my seat, I extended both my hands towards the two of them.

“……?”

Tom and Jerry looked up at me blankly, as if they didn't know what I meant.

I said to the two of them.

“Shake hands.”

Tom's brow furrowed.

“…What are you talking about?”

“We're a team for now, aren't we? Are you going to go all the way there scowling at each other like this?”

“……”

“You have to make a truce, at least a temporary one. If you don't want to, you can back out, and I'll go alone. I don't want to be cleaning up corpses on the way.”

“……”

Didn't that guy Tom say it at the beginning?

That this wasn't some childish squabble that could be brushed off with a single handshake.

That exterminating the Vampires was a duty he had to carry out for the sake of all Beastkin.

…Well, of course, from his perspective, that was true, but.

Just because they shook hands, it didn't necessarily mean they had shaken off all their deep-seated emotions.

Reach-

“…I will go. Tom Lycan Hardist.”

“……”

Sometimes.

Even if you couldn't shake off all your emotions, there were times when you had to shake hands to begin the resolution.

Grasp-

“…When this is all over, I will kill you without fail, Jerry Dracula Junior.”