A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 146

On a night when the moon had fully tilted.

In the dead of night, where the clear sky and bluish moonlight deepened the quiet stillness.

Jerry walked alone in the garden.

Rustle—

Rustle—

And again.

Rustle—

“……”

It was the middle of the night when everyone else was fast asleep, but for Jerry Junior, this was the time when his mind was at its clearest and most vivid.

This was because Jerry was born with a quiet and taciturn nature, and having failed to form any notable friendships since childhood, he preferred to be alone.

Of course, as a member of society, it was impossible for him to completely escape conversation or relationships, but those were things he had learned simply to get by.

Considering Jerry's own preferences, he most favored solitary contemplation, where he didn't have to worry about his relationship with anyone.

Therefore, this nightly stroll, free from anyone's interruption, was also the only hobby-like activity Jerry had enjoyed since he was a child.

“……”

Originally, in most cases, the subject of his contemplation during these nightly walks was related to his business.

Business improvements, new items, expansion, and so on.

Given the scale of his operations, business-related worries were constantly provided, and even after a stable profit structure was established, Jerry had continued to pay close attention to the possibilities of expansion and financial flow.

Of course, if he had a subordinate to whom he could entrust such matters, he wouldn't have wracked his brain while wasting his own energy, but he had experienced too many backstabbings to entrust it to others.

And since he himself had no particular aversion to such contemplation, he mainly agonized over those worries and devised solutions during these nightly walks.

To be honest, it wasn't as if he had no interest in the field either.

“……”

Besides, from the perspective of Jerry, who lived alone without a clan or family, there had been no other field to think about until now, so in a way, it was natural.

…However.

‘…Seo U-jin.’

After meeting U-jin.

Recently, Jerry realized that he was no longer contemplating business-related matters.

No, to be more precise, he had no room to contemplate business-related matters.

On the train where they first met, U-jin had shown him the clan's Black Magic, ‘Blood Demon Art,’ which he had been searching for, and left him his mother's keepsake.

After that, with his characteristically unpredictable actions, he continuously brought about questions and anxiety.

He had abruptly ordered him to procure a Guild House, and now he had brought Tom Hardist, who was tied to him by a thoroughly ill-fated connection, and revealed the hidden history of the Beastkin Nation and the clan that even he did not properly know.

Looking back, it was a series of unbelievable events.

So, from Jerry's perspective, it was only natural that he had no room to pay attention to things like his business.

『Your grandfather did the right thing, Jerry…….』

『You… must carry on his will.』

…Well, of course.

That wasn't to say that the contemplations he had after meeting U-jin were completely separate from the worries he had until now.

After all, the businesses Jerry had run in the Church Territory were for the purpose of making money.

And the reason he tried so hard to make money was to fulfill his mother's last words, ‘to carry on Jerry Dracula Senior's will.’

Without even knowing exactly what those words essentially meant, Jerry had simply thought it would be enough to revive the ‘Blood Demon Art’ and had been hiring adventurers to search for records until now.

So, if anything.

The worries he had since meeting U-jin were a little closer to the essence than mere business concerns.

His mother's last words, whose meaning he couldn't guess at all, now seemed to be understandable, at least a little.

And it felt like he now vaguely knew what he had to do.

‘…I was foolish.’

It was a part that showed how meaningless the things he had done without knowing any better had been.

The research and exploration he had done before meeting U-jin were completely meaningless when compared to the things he had learned in the short time since.

In the end, it seemed that everything was engraved on the earring U-jin had brought, and his attempt to revive the Black Magic without such a source was truly no different from searching for a grain of sand in a desert.

Still, if there was one thing he had done well in his life so far, it was only that he had taken in the Beastkin slaves.

Jerry himself had not done so out of a clear conviction that he should, but simply because it weighed on his mind for some reason.

Even after learning the whole story, the only thing he could pride himself on as not being a bad decision was just that.

The circumstances of the Vampire Clan that came out of U-jin's mouth were certainly pitiful.

But at the very least, it was impossible to bring back the Beastkin who had already died at Dracula Senior's hands… In Jerry's own opinion, those circumstances could not justify all the actions of the Vampire Clan.

No matter how much they aimed for minimal damage, their true intentions were different, and they had unavoidable circumstances, looking only at the conclusion, it was his own clan in the end.

To be precise, the fact that his grandfather, Dracula Senior, had participated in the fall of the Beastkin Nation was an undeniable truth.

At that moment, Jerry suddenly recalled Tom's words.

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

…Tom's low mutter was sincere.

He would undoubtedly do as he said.

Whether he had granted his earnest request.

Or whether he was just pretending for a moment for the information U-jin had, Jerry couldn't know for sure, but he clearly remembered the killing intent directed at him.

Moreover, Tom was someone who had already killed him once.

No matter that he had learned of the unavoidable circumstances at the time, the intense hatred that could easily take a life could not be washed away in an instant.

However.

It didn't really matter.

『…But give me a little time. There are things I must do before I die.』

『…….』

『I ask that you give me time, just until the Beastkin Nation is rebuilt.』

Because the words he had spoken were also sincere.

Of course, his own will had played a part that could be described as ‘not at all’ in the current position of the Vampires and the price of blood attached to the name Dracula.

But he didn't feel particularly wronged.

In the end, it was he who had decided to carry on that name, and if it weren't for his mother's last words, he would have had no lingering attachment to this world in the first place.

If he had done everything he needed to do, it was fine to die, that was Jerry's thought.

Well.

‘…….’

Doing everything he had to do wouldn't be easy either, though.

Just as Jerry's contemplation had deepened to a certain extent.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps was heard from somewhere.

Rustle—

Rustle—

“Good morning, partner.”

“…It’s hardly a good morning when the sun hasn't risen yet.”

“Then… a bad morning?”

“…It seems you've only inverted the completely irrelevant part. Is it just my imagination?”

“It’s your imagination.”

It was U-jin.

* * *

I was already well aware that Jerry had a somewhat perverted hobby of taking a walk alone in the dead of night when everyone was asleep.

And that this was the time when the poker face he wore all day long relaxed, even if just a little.

I was well aware of that.

“How was it? Your impressions.”

From a distance.

As I looked at the temporary ruins that would soon be transformed into this Guild House's Territory and asked, he brazenly retorted.

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What do you mean you don’t know. What else would I be asking, looking over there?”

“……”

“You didn’t intend to reveal it, did you? That you’re a Vampire.”

The Beastkin that Jerry had gathered while scouring the slave markets held quite a variety of meanings for him.

They were the measure of the guilt he had accumulated, the first beings for whom he had volunteered to be a guardian, and the lost Beastkin Nation itself.

Of course, considering his usual personality, it was a difficult thing to comprehend.

Even I, who was quite close to him, had never heard the word ‘friend’ until just before he died, his emotional lines were that solid and closed off.

Considering my case, who remained a partner until the end, the Beastkin should have held one of two meanings.

A superficial relationship on the surface, ‘slave and master’.

Or.

A clan that once belonged to the same country.

But to Jerry, they were not beings that could be explained by such mere words.

A subject with such complex emotional lines that even he himself could not clearly explain.

Family, clan, friends.

For him, who was left all alone with nothing, they were the only ones who held a meaning beyond mere strangers, beyond even a partner.

‘…….’

That was the same in the pre-Regression timeline when he didn't know the full story between the Beastkin and the Vampire Clan.

That is to say.

In his words.

To say they were precious, the thought of ‘how dare I’ came to mind.

To say they were nothing, their meaning was too great.

And to say they were just so-so, the relationship was too deep.

…So, when talking about matters related to the Vampire Clan in front of Tom and the Beastkin, there was a part of me that was secretly worried.

Of course, as one of the people who knew him best, I could be sure that it probably wouldn't be the case.

But still, with something this sensitive, it wouldn't be strange if, by a one-in-a-million chance, Jerry harbored a different heart than he did before the Regression.

Before the Regression, he was someone who shouldered all the burdens of the Vampires and chose to live not as ‘Jerry Junior’ but as ‘The Last Vampire, Dracula’.

But couldn't it be different this time?

‘…….’

That was why I had come all the way out here in the middle of the night.

In case he might make a different choice this time.

In case he might cast aside the burden of being ‘The Last Vampire’ that he had carried until now, feel wronged, and want to live his own life.

“…There wasn't as much of a stir as I thought.”

“……”

“It seems to be because there are no first-generation Beastkin who directly experienced the fall of the Beastkin Nation. Of course, it seemed the majority held unfavorable feelings, but among them, a few understood my situation and said it wasn't my fault.”

“……”

“There weren't many who, like Tom Hardist, had intense emotions from direct experience.”

Well.

Seeing as he was explaining so earnestly without me asking in detail, it seemed my worries had been unfounded.

“That’s a good thing.”

“…It is a good thing.”

The corners of his mouth drew a subtle arc.

“…It is a good thing.”