A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 147
Clatter—
Breakfast is important.
“…So. It’s not like I can tell you what to do or not to do at this point, but even if you are the Hero, and even if you have a plan, shouldn’t there be some kind of reasonable limit? That’s what I’m saying.”
“……”
In truth, since one doesn’t have a strong appetite right after waking up, breakfast is the easiest meal to skip, but considering the time between meals, it was the most important meal of the day.
It was the first meal after maintaining an empty stomach for as short as nine hours or as long as over twelve hours since dinner the previous day.
“How long has it been since you came up, Hero? The things you’ve gone through are all things a normal hero might experience once in a lifetime, if at all.”
It wasn’t just about satisfying hunger; nutritionally, eating a hearty breakfast was something that increased work efficiency.
“I don’t know what you’re so busy running around for. But this time, don’t even think about going alone. No matter what you say, Hero, I’m definitely going to follow you this time…”
Therefore, both nutritionally and from a personal efficiency standpoint, breakfast had to be eaten heartily.
“…I get it, so.”
Right.
I just wanted to eat my meal.
“Stop now. Let’s just eat. Irurira.”
“…It’s Eliya.”
At my words asking to eat, Eliya replied as if wronged.
“I would stop if your track record weren’t so spectacular, Hero. In the first place, if you were the type to listen to me, I wouldn’t have needed to repeat myself like this. You’re the one who made me this way, Hero. So deal with it.”
“……”
“Anyway, I’ve decided to follow you, so just know that.”
“……”
Not everyone was moving to find the Beastkin Nation’s princess, Valencia.
Since the number of Beastkin slaves Jerry brought was quite large, someone was needed to manage this place.
Loxy would stay to manage the mansion, and it seemed Cheong-yi would have to stay for security.
Due to the special nature of the task, Tom and Jerry naturally had to go, it went without saying that I was going, and it seemed I had to take Eliya, who had the air of someone who would quit if I left her behind again.
“Have you finished all your preparations? I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do, so I’ve prepared for a general journey, but I was wondering if there’s anything special you need…”
“Well… not really. I don’t need anything like that.”
There were no particular supplies needed.
If there was anything that needed to be prepared in advance, it was only Tom and Jerry.
In the first place, even if we prepared other things, they wouldn’t be helpful at all.
“As soon as Jerry wakes up, we’ll leave immediately…”
I was about to say that we could leave after I finished eating and Jerry woke up, but I had to stop my words.
Suddenly. It was because two people who should have been there were not in sight.
It was natural for Jerry, as it wasn’t time for him to wake up yet, and Loxy also hadn’t come out of her room yet, as losing sleep had become a daily routine for her lately.
But Tom and Cheong-yi had no particular reason not to show up for breakfast.
Neither of them had a poor appetite.
If my memory was correct, they were the type to diligently eat their breakfast.
‘…I’ve already finished eating.’
The fact that they hadn’t shown up by the time I finished my meal meant that something was up.
“Are they in their rooms?”
“Pardon? Who?”
“Tom and Cheong-yi.”
When I asked Eliya just in case, she tilted her head and answered.
“Uh… I don’t think so. I think I saw them go out when I woke up this morning.”
“……”
“They’re probably not in their rooms.”
They went out…
…Come to think of it, since a while ago.
Thump—
Crash—!
Strange noises had been coming from outside.
I had thought maybe the Beastkin were doing repairs on the house, but it seemed the culprits were Tom and Cheong-yi.
“Are they not eating?”
“Should I go get them?”
“No. I’m done eating. I’ll get them on my way out.”
I didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but thinking it would be best for them to eat now if we were to leave on time, I opened the door and went out.
“Are you guys going to leave on an empty…”
A rather strange scene was unfolding.
“Anaerobic exercise on an empty stomach is the shortcut to physical training.”
“…I’m hungry.”
Thump—!
Cheong-yi was lying on the floor, lifting a giant log with stones embedded in both ends with his hands, and Tom seemed to be giving some kind of one-on-one lecture next to him.
A repetitive action reminiscent of a bench press.
The constant thumping and crashing sounds were the sounds of the stones, which were much larger than his body, lightly hitting the floor.
“Furthermore, it is also very good for cultivating the mental strength to reach mastery in the Martial Arts.”
“I’m hungry.”
Crash—!
“In other words, there is nothing like this anaerobic exercise on an empty stomach for developing the body and soul.”
“I said I’m hungry!!!!”
Thump—!
“Good, that’s it. One more!”
Crash—!
“One last one!”
Thump—!
“Just one more, for real this time!”
Crash—!
“…Their chemistry is better than I thought.”
Whether the ‘anaerobic exercise on an empty stomach’ Tom was talking about was actually effective or not, it didn’t seem bad.
I felt like I had seen him do that kind of training once before the Regression.
In the first place, he was someone who maintained a serious attitude when it came to the Martial Arts.
It might look bizarre on the surface, but his strength was proof of the training method’s effectiveness.
…If there was just one thing that bothered me, it was the fact that, contrary to appearances, it seemed the two were not communicating at all.
“One more time for the very, very last one!”
Anyway, it was still a good sight to see.
* * *
“Is everyone ready?”
At my words, uttered more as a confirmation than an actual question, they affirmed.
Tom nodded gravely, his earlier appearance while helping Cheong-yi with his training completely gone.
“Yes. I’m all ready, Hero.”
Eliya rummaged through her luggage, checked her belongings once more, and then answered.
And Jerry.
“Partner.”
“…What?”
“…Just in case of unforeseen dangers, how about hiring some security personnel? I will bear the financial burden.”
He suggested, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand.
Of course.
It was rejected without any need for a long explanation.
The group was already a conspicuous combination without any security personnel, and doing something like that would only gather unnecessary attention.
The fact that the princess of the Beastkin Nation was still alive was a top-secret fact.
Of course, it was impossible to guess what we were trying to do just by looking at our appearance.
But still, there was no need to experience unnecessary variables.
Besides.
“Why do we need security personnel? You have the strongest warrior of the Beastkin right next to you.”
We had Tom Hardist, a great general who was a match for a thousand.
The purebred of the historic Lycan Clan could produce a guarding effect that surpassed a thousand security personnel.
…Well.
“…I need security personnel to protect me from that strongest warrior.”
There were some minor circumstances, but that was none of my business.
At Jerry’s comment, which could have been either serious or a joke, Tom growled in reply.
“If I were going to kill you, you’d be long dead. Jerry Junior.”
“……”
“If you wish, I can rip your throat out right now.”
As expected.
It was impossible for mortal enemies who lived and died by their hatred to become a team overnight just because they shook hands once.
It seemed it was going to be a pretty enjoyable journey, creaking loudly from the very start.
“First, there’s something you all need to know before we leave.”
“…What is it?”
“To succeed in this mission, you must follow my orders unconditionally.”
In fact, it was so obvious that there was hardly a need to say it.
Only I knew the details of the plan anyway, and from their perspective, they knew well that listening to me was the best course of action, as the reunification of the Beastkin forces was an important matter.
Although they each had strong personalities, they weren’t three-year-old children who would deliberately sabotage the mission by being stubborn about my words.
But in this case, it meant that it was important enough to warrant another reminder, even though they already knew.
How important it was for them to follow my words to the letter in this plan.
“Hmph, just don’t go back on your word later. If the princess is truly alive as you say, I’ll go even if you tell me to jump into a pit of fire.”
“…You’d better be able to keep that promise.”
“The Lycan Clan does not lie. If I don’t keep this promise, I will crawl between your legs and bark.”
Tom Hardist of the proud Lycan Clan, crawling between my legs and barking.
…Perhaps.
It seemed I might get to see a rather interesting scene.
Swoosh—
I turned my head to look at Jerry and asked.
“And you, Jerry?”
“…Does saying that mean you’re going to order us to do something we wouldn’t want to follow on this mission?”
As expected, this one was the sharp one.
Well, even before the Regression, putting aside our partner relationship, our personalities were quite compatible.
I didn’t know if it only applied to me or if it was the same for others.
But he had a knack for pinpointing my intentions quite accurately.
“Yeah. That’s probably the plan.”
“……”
After contemplating for a moment, he nodded and replied.
“…Understood. I will prioritize your words in any situation.”
“…Hah. If we had left during this time, we would have arrived by now.”
Tom had a look on his face that said he didn’t understand why we were going to such lengths.
Well, from his perspective, it was somewhat natural.
The Tom I knew would have been 100% sincere in his words about being able to enter a pit of fire for the princess.
But that was precisely why I had to be even more careful.
In this mission, the Beastkin’s unique loyalty to the royal family had a high enough chance of becoming a poison to them.
That was why I had warned them once more in the first place.
“It’s not just about bringing her back, you see.”
“…?”
“It makes sense if you think about it logically. If it were a simple matter of going, ‘Let us go, Your Highness,’ and bringing her back, why would I take you guys? I would have gone alone and brought her back long ago.”
“……”
“……”
It was an obvious story, but.
The reason I went through the trouble of dragging Tom Lycan Hardist out of the Darkest Dungeon and forcing the two to reconcile, even temporarily, while covered in brick dust, was not without reason.
They were all things that had to be done as prerequisites to bring back ‘Valencia la Bael Tigris’.
There was no reason for me to do something stupid like choosing a difficult path.
“Besides, if I could have brought her first, why would I go through all the trouble of gathering side branches like you? What a hassle.”
“……”
“You’d better brace yourselves. It probably won’t be that easy.”