A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 149

“…Hunters.”

“……”

“Beast hunters, the kind that hunt Man-eating Beasts.”

At the sudden words of the man who introduced himself as ‘Tan,’ Eliya asked back.

“A Man-eating Beast?”

“Yes, a Man-eating Beast.”

Man-eating Beast.

A term referring to a beast that devours people in private homes, it was not a particularly frightening target for Heroes who rolled around on the battlefield.

But for ordinary people, it was a being they would rarely encounter, one that inspired more fear than even a Demon.

Of course, in urban areas with a certain level of security, it would be impossible for an unidentified beast to run rampant due to their defense systems, but there were more cities on the continent without such systems than with them.

“If we’re talking about a peculiarity besides the barley beer, it has to be the Man-eating Beast that has appeared since long ago.”

Besides, the term Man-eating Beast didn't necessarily refer to just a beast.

From the very beginning, it was a term for an unidentifiable being, so how could one determine if it was a beast or something else?

The name, used out of custom, became fixed, and all unidentified beings that attacked people came to be called ‘Man-eating Beasts’.

In reality, it was not uncommon to find that the unidentified beings people called Man-eating Beasts were actually Magical Beasts that had deserted from the War against Demons.

Well.

There were even cases where, like the saying ‘Tyranny is fiercer than a tiger’, the ‘Man-eating Beast’ was used as an excuse to explain the whereabouts of someone who had disappeared from the community for some reason.

And since beasts, by their nature, often had conditions that were not ideal for hunting humans, the instances where the beings people called Man-eating Beasts were actual beasts were fewer than one might think.

“There were rumors about the Man-eating Beast even when I was a child.”

At Tan's added explanation, this time Jerry asked.

“…Are you saying the Man-eating Beast hasn't been caught for decades?”

“That's right. It might even have been hundreds of years. Even the village elders couldn't pinpoint exactly when it started.”

Finding it hard to believe, he asked again.

“…Unbelievable.”

“It’s the truth. Didn’t you all know this before coming here?”

“……”

The Man-eating Beast of Aileen Village was among the more peculiar types of Man-eating Beasts.

Whatever the identity of the Man-eating Beast, attacking humans was no ordinary matter.

Usually, when rumors of a Man-eating Beast started to spread, the matter would be settled within the year.

Either the incidents of people disappearing would subside, or the Man-eating Beast's identity would be revealed and it would face retaliation from the community.

However, as Tan explained, it had already been over several decades since the Man-eating Beast began to appear in Aileen Village.

If it were a typical Man-eating Beast, its identity would have been exposed long ago and it would have been beheaded in the middle of the village, but the Man-eating Beast of Aileen Village still remained a ‘Man-eating Beast,’ its identity still unrevealed.

“That our village’s Man-eating Beast is a bit more special.”

“Special?”

“Yes. It’s not just a Man-eating Beast that devours people; it’s now become no different from our village’s sacred talisman.”

That wasn't the only thing that made Aileen's Man-eating Beast special.

Normally, a Man-eating Beast would hunt humans for food, so it would hunt its targets without any particular commonality.

But the people who became the hunting targets of Aileen Village's Man-eating Beast all shared one common trait.

“Wouldn’t you think so too? It picks out the cancers of the village on its own.”

“…What do you mean by that.”

“Hah… Don’t tell me you really came here knowing nothing? I’ve never seen hunters like this before.”

It was that it hunted ‘criminals’.

The farther a village was from the central regions where law enforcement agencies existed, the weaker its security was bound to be, and Aileen Village was a rural backwater on the very outskirts of an already weak kingdom.

It wasn't the fief of a titled noble; it was a structure where people had gathered to live on what was once just an empty plain, forming a village.

The only leader the village had was a Village Chief chosen by custom.

It was difficult for law enforcement agencies to assign personnel to every such town, so in the end, what could directly restrain people's actions was closer to their moral conscience rather than the law.

And naturally, this ‘moral conscience’ was bound to give rise to far more criminal acts than the law.

To put it bluntly, that moral conscience was a barrier low enough to be crossed with just a single drink.

Uniquely, the people that Aileen's Man-eating Beast hunted were precisely these kinds of people.

A man who beat his own wife to death with a stone during a marital dispute.

A rapist who made four girls disappear.

A serial arsonist who burned down eight houses.

And so on.

It hunted down the cancers of Aileen Village, those who had taken many lives but whom the village could only fret over due to the lack of a law enforcement agency to handle them.

At first, the villagers thought it was merely a coincidence, but as it happened countless times, a belief began to take root in their hearts.

‘The Man-eating Beast eliminates the cancers of the village.’

It started as a ‘Man-eating Beast,’ but over time, it came to be regarded by the people as something close to a ‘Guardian Deity.’

And it was, in fact, playing the role of a Guardian Deity.

Once such a belief took hold in people's hearts, unlike the usual reaction when a Man-eating Beast appears, the villagers themselves made no effort to catch it.

People were clearly and continuously dying, yet an ironic phenomenon occurred where the villagers were actually pleased about it.

Of course.

The law enforcement agencies, suspicious of the continuous murders, even dispatched an investigation team at the national level.

This was due to the concern that the people might have created their own system of judgment under the pretext of the ‘Man-eating Beast.’

They used manpower all the way out to the remote rural village as a preventative measure, because if such a culture took root and spread to surrounding villages, it could potentially collapse the foundation of the nation's security system.

However, even after several investigations, the result was the same.

The traces of the murder scenes clearly indicated that the culprit was not human, and the unidentified Man-eating Beast definitely existed.

…Well, by then it had become more of a Guardian Deity than a Man-eating Beast.

‘…….’

Naturally, from the king's perspective, the situation was not at all welcome.

No matter if they were criminals, his own subjects were being killed off one after another, and the authority to impose the Death Penalty in the nation was supposed to come only from him.

Of course, it wasn't without its positive aspects in terms of preventing further crimes, so rather than being a complete eyesore, it was a being closer to a ‘chicken rib; something not worth having, but a waste to throw away’.

Still, with people dying, it was difficult to just stand by and say it wasn't so bad.

It was a Man-eating Beast, after all.

Who could guarantee it wouldn't harm a good person someday, even if it wasn't doing so now?

The king, after much deliberation, eventually devised a plan to dispatch professional hunters.

Professional Man-eating Beast hunters who traveled across the continent solving such problems.

“Hmm… Are you folks really Beast Hunters? I naturally assumed so… but now that I see you know nothing, it seems you might not be…”

It was in the same context that he had identified us as ‘Beast Hunters’ as soon as he saw us.

He must have personally witnessed numerous Beast Hunters visiting his village since the investigation team.

In the first place, there weren't many outsiders who would visit a village so remote, not as a layover, but as a final destination.

“If you happen to be a rookie team that has just started hunting, you should be satisfied with the down payment and just go back.”

“……”

“Our Aileen Village’s Guardian Deity is not something that can be hunted so easily.”

At some point, the designation had switched from Man-eating Beast to Guardian Deity.

“…Is that Man-eating Beast so formidable?”

Tom asked.

His voice was slightly lower than its usual tone, as if he had some inkling of what was going on.

…Well.

No matter how clueless he was, he must have been able to guess that the Valencia we were looking for was related to that Man-eating Beast.

“Of course, it is. All the hunters who came before have given up and returned every time. I don't know the details, but I heard that once, one of the top Beast Hunter teams on the continent paid a visit.”

Although they were called hunters, it was more accurate to think of Beast Hunters not as typical hunters, but as ‘low-level Magical Beast specialist problem-solvers’.

As they specialized in dealing with unidentified monsters, they too were bound to possess skills that surpassed the ordinary level.

Most of them were retired soldiers who already had experience rolling around on the battlefields with Magical Beasts.

Especially if it was a top-tier Beast Hunter team on the continent, as Tan mentioned, it wouldn't be strange if there was someone who had once been active as a Hero candidate.

It was a minor field, but as long as Man-eating Beasts continued to exist, the demand for them was constant.

“It’s a memory from my childhood, but I remember it clearly. None of them had ordinary eyes.”

“……”

“To exaggerate a little, they looked like men who had returned from hell.”

…Of course, even so, compared to the pinnacle among those who bear the title of ‘Hunter’ on our side.

With a ‘Vampire Hunter’ present, it was like showing off in front of an expert.

“We are hunters.”

Thinking this was enough of a background explanation, I cut Tan's words short.

“Thanks for the explanation. But we’ll handle our own business.”

“Hmm… Well, I suppose so.”

“……”

“You all have your own circumstances… I suppose because it’s my hometown, I got attached and seem to have crossed a line.”

Ssk—

He seemed to be a perceptive person.

At just a single word, he immediately removed his hand from Jerry's shoulder and got up.

I was just about to tell him to leave, but it seemed he had taken the hint from my previous words.

“Well then, I’ll see you around if I see you. Hunter friends. I’ve set up my spot behind that pile of cargo over there, so if you have any questions, come and ask. Since I made a mistake, I’ll help whenever you need it.”

Nod—

With another awkward, apologetic smile, he left his spot.

The gazes of the three turned to me.

Their eyes all held the same look, as if they were all thinking the same thing.

On behalf of them, Eliya asked.

“Umm… by any chance.”

“……”

“Is the Man-eating Beast of Aileen Village that man mentioned, the princess of the Beastkin Nation named ‘Valencia’?”

And my answer to that was.

“No.”

…It probably sounded quite meaningful.

“…To be precise.”