A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 151

In the pre-regression timeline, the end of the Beastkin was quite tragic.

In the end, as the weakest refugees within the Order's territory, most of the Beastkin met the fate of extinction, unable to escape their status as slaves.

Of course, since the War against Demons was ultimately lost, it was a fate that all races would have eventually faced.

However, in the case of the Beastkin, their end was all the more contrasting because they had once enjoyed a period of considerable glory.

The fact that the leader of a neutral nation, which had once held its own between the Order's Allied Forces and the Demon King's Alliance, had been reduced to a 'nation of slaves' before disappearing was a story that would make anyone feel a sense of bitterness.

Especially.

Because the last surviving bloodline of the Beastkin royal family, who had hidden their identity and lived as an outsider, had died without anyone knowing.

『…We’re too late.』

I only learned of the existence of ‘Valencia La Bael Tigris’ after she had died.

At that time, the Order had fallen to the Demon King's invasion, and it was a chaotic period where the nations and factions belonging to the Order's territory were repeatedly forming and breaking alliances every day.

It was a time when the Suicide Squad's important missions were divided into two: inflicting damage on the Demon King's Army and absorbing the remaining forces.

Our search for Valencia was part of the latter.

Although their past glory was long lost and the Beastkin were as weakened as they could be, we thought that if the royal bloodline could reign again and rally them, we could build a useful force to stand against the Demon King.

It wouldn't be an easy task, but given the Beastkin's characteristic strong loyalty to their king, we judged that if we could just find the royal bloodline, there might be a way.

As it happened, the ‘Agency’, which had continued its original activities while hiding its identity despite the collapse of the Order's headquarters, had approached the Suicide Squad first and provided information about her.

Upon learning of her survival and location, Bamboo Hat Mister immediately took me and headed there.

『…Those damn bastards.』

『I thought this might happen. But at this rate, it seems they already knew. The Demon King’s side, I mean.』

『…….』

But by the time we reached her, it was already too late.

Whether by coincidence, or because the Demon King's Army had become aware of her existence and our approach.

Aileen Village, which had been perfectly fine until the Agency informed us, had been devastated by an invasion from the Demon King's Army.

It wasn't just Aileen Village.

By the time we arrived, the entire Empel Kingdom, to which the village belonged, had been destroyed.

It was a slightly unapologetic thing to say, but the Empel Kingdom was among the most useless nations within the Order's territory.

A nation that was, so to speak, a 'side dish'.

In my mind, I couldn't think of any particular reason why they would need to prioritize invading such a country.

『…Tsk.』

Just in case, as we searched for traces amidst the collapsed ruins, we were able to directly confirm her death.

A Beastkin resembling a feline race, with a half-black, half-white pattern.

We recognized her immediately due to her unique features: one blue eye and one gold eye.

Her corpse was cut in half and hung from a tree, as if for display.

It seemed that, just as I had guessed, the Demon King's Army had known of her existence through some route.

…And probably the fact that we were approaching as well.

『Let's go. Time is of the essence.』

It was certainly a sad event, but we had no time to grieve.

To put it coldly, she was just one of the cards that could have been used to resist the Demon King's Army.

『…Right.』

If a card we had planned to use became unplayable, we had to quickly find another.

At that time, the Suicide Squad was on borrowed time, not knowing when they would be annihilated if they failed to build up their forces.

And so, engraving her image in my eyes, I turned away with Bamboo Hat Mister and headed for our next objective.

* * *

Creeak—

Following the Village Chief's guidance, we briefly entered his house.

Of course, unlike how Tan had introduced us, we had no connection to Beast Hunters whatsoever.

However, we had no other identity to explain ourselves with, and since this man named ‘Tan’ seemed to have already made up his mind, I judged it would be more convenient to operate under that guise for the time being.

Well, I had planned to use a similar excuse even if that wasn't the case.

When I nodded first, indicating my intention to enter, the others also kept their mouths shut and followed me.

Normally, this would have been the moment for objections to arise, but it seemed they intended to follow my lead for now, probably because of what I had told them beforehand.

“So, you’re the Beast Hunters sent by the King?”

“Well… yes. For now.”

“You hadn't come for a while, so I thought you’d given up… Heh heh. It seems that's not the case.”

As could be instantly understood from the Village Chief's brief mumble, Aileen Village didn't particularly want the Man-eating Beast to be caught.

One might think it made no sense, given that people were being killed by a monster of unknown identity, but that was the truth.

While it was a monster that preyed on people, to be more precise, it was a monster that preyed on ‘those who committed serious crimes’.

After the Man-eating Beast appeared, serious crimes like robbery, rape, and murder had actually ceased, and the level of public safety in Aileen Village had risen.

There were even some who called the Man-eating Beast a ‘guardian spirit’, so no one in the village insisted on the need to catch it.

If anyone did, the very act of making such a claim would be proof that they had done something wrong themselves.

“…Though I can’t dare to defy the King's word.”

However, the King's position was a little different.

From the King's perspective, no matter what positive role it played, the Man-eating Beast was an unidentified monster that killed people.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the unique characteristics of Aileen Village's Man-eating Beast, but from the standpoint of a king who ruled a nation, it was still a monster that threatened his people.

Although it had played a positive role in the village for a long time, the authority to reveal and judge sin belonged solely to the authority of the state.

If he were to let the Man-eating Beast be, simply because it had a positive outcome, it could create an undesirable culture in other villages where they would judge their own criminals themselves.

…In fact, there had been incidents before where communities would ostracize members who were detrimental to them, like in ostracism, and then blame it on the Man-eating Beast.

Therefore, from the King's perspective, no matter how positive its effects or influence, he had no choice but to opt to catch the Man-eating Beast to avoid setting a precedent.

And so, the Beast Hunters hired to catch it had been visiting Aileen Village until now.

“Well then, is there anything I can help you with?”

As if he were used to it, the Village Chief posed the question, and I asked a conventional question that all the previous hunters must have asked.

“I'd like to know some basic information. Like its area of appearance or the time it appears. Or any information that would be useful in finding it.”

It wasn't just a question to keep up appearances.

Although I had Regressed, this was my first time visiting this place at this point in time.

As I had planned to build up the Beastkin's forces since before my Regression, the core information was already in my head, but I needed to gather some information to identify specific variables.

Besides, my knowledge of the ‘Man-eating Beast’ was only a rough guess based on reading the situation at the time; I had never obtained any accurately confirmed information.

…Well.

Not that I particularly thought my guess would be wrong.

“It doesn't appear periodically. Unlike the Man-eating Beasts in other villages that cause an explosive number of victims in a short period, its frequency is also very low.”

“……”

“So if you ask about a specific time it appears, I have nothing to tell you, but…”

The Village Chief trailed off for a moment, then added with a low ‘Hmm…’.

“If I had to say based on my memory, it was whenever bad rumors were rampant in the village.”

“……”

“At those times, the Man-eating Beast would always appear.”

“……”

“Well… other than that, there were no traces to speak of, not even a footprint, and there’s no special way to lure it out unless you commit a grave crime yourself.”

Chuckling, the Village Chief muttered self-reproachfully.

“I said I'd help, but it seems there’s not much I can do.”

“That’s alright.”

“My apologies… but it was the same when the other hunters came, so please understand. It's a Man-eating Beast so thorough that we can't really help you.”

“……”

“Before you, there were even those who claimed to be the continent's greatest hunters, but they all failed in their hunt and returned.”

He didn't add anything more, but from the context, his gaze seemed to want to convey that it would be difficult, so it would be better to give up.

“Well, I'm sorry, but this is all I can do. Providing you with a place to stay here is about all the help I can offer.”

“That’s more than enough.”

He nodded and looked at Tan, who was standing silently behind us, and spoke.

“Tan. If you don't mind, could you guide them? They'll need to unpack their things first, and I have something I need to go out for after this.”

“Not a problem! I just need to guide them to the annex where the hunters always stay, right?”

“Yes. Please do that. I couldn't prepare it since I wasn't notified in advance, but it should have been managed to some extent, so as long as you get some bedding, there shouldn't be any other problems.”

Nod—

With that, we left the Village Chief's house and headed for the prepared lodging with Tan as our guide.

“Should we go right away?”

“Let’s.”

“Then I'll explain about the lodging on the way.”

Step, step—

Tan, who began to walk ahead of us with his characteristic hearty stride, guided us and explained about the lodging.

“The place you'll be staying is an annex prepared by the village for hunters. Back in its heyday, hunters visited every month, so the village built it.”

“……”

“Well, from what the Village Chief said, it seems it hasn't been used that often recently… but when it was built, it was the best building in our village, so it should be in better shape than most inns.”

The lodging was not far.

A location about a five-minute walk from the Village Chief's house.

It wasn't a dazzling level, but as Tan said, it looked less worn out than the other buildings in the village.

Well.

“……”

Seeing the way Jerry's brow was wrinkling in real time, it seemed this too was below his expectations.

“Well, the basic necessities are all provided inside, so there's nothing you need to be particularly careful about. Just know that there's a previous guest already staying there.”

“…Pardon?”

At the sudden news, Eliya immediately shot back a question.

It seemed she didn't quite understand what he meant by 'previous guest'.

He had clearly said it was a building prepared for hunters, and according to the Village Chief, none had come for a while, so she likely couldn't understand why there would be a previous guest.

But soon after, at Tan's finger pointing somewhere on the roof of the lodging.

“There, that fellow is the previous guest.”

Eliya was able to realize that the previous guest he was talking about was not a person.

There.

“…That’s.”

A cat with black stripes and odd eyes was looking down at them.