A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 155
『Grrrrrr—!』
A colossal roar.
At first glance, it sounded similar to the characteristic beastly cry Tom had let out until now, but this was… different.
It felt like it was on a different scale.
A ferocious and powerful roar that gave the impression that the very limits of its sound were on a different plane from ordinary things.
It was less the cry of a beast and more akin to the sound of thunder.
“Don’t waste your energy trying to catch a beast, you all should… Aagh!”
Along with the thunderous roar, the pig-like Peddler, who had been preaching his pathetic logic, screamed.
Tap-tap-tap-tap—!
Without a moment's hesitation, we threw open the door and rushed outside.
And there, paradoxically contrary to the rumors that it had never once shown itself, we could see the form of the giant Man-eating Beast, positioned as if for all to see.
“…A tiger.”
Eliya’s low murmur, which escaped her lips unknowingly, summarized the Man-eating Beast’s appearance.
But to call it a simple tiger would be an understatement; like its roar, it was on a completely different level.
On a pure white background were ink-black stripes, painted as if with aggressive brushstrokes.
A head so massive it made a person’s body look small.
Piercing eyes that seemed to press down on us, tilted coolly as if they would not permit a single twitch of movement.
Its appearance alone was enough to inspire awe, so much so that it would not have been out of place to bestow it with the title of ‘Monarch’.
“……”
“……”
That wasn’t a word used merely for the sake of expression.
In reality, the moment they saw the white tiger, what surfaced in Tom and Jerry’s eyes was closer to the reverence that naturally establishes a hierarchy, rather than simple fear or tension.
However, seeing as no words had yet escaped their lips, it seemed that even Tom and Jerry, being Beastkin, were not entirely certain who it was.
If they had known its true identity, given what it was, a much more certain and clear reaction would have likely emerged.
It seemed they were only instinctively guessing that its identity was far from ordinary, following the blood that flowed through their Beastkin veins.
‘…As I thought.’
But ironically.
I, who was not a Beastkin, was able to be certain the moment I saw its appearance.
It wasn't something I could feel on an instinctive level like them.
But even before arriving here, I had been fairly certain of the true nature of Aileen Village’s ‘unidentified Man-eating Beast’.
Seeing it with my own eyes, I could tell with even greater clarity that my thoughts had not been wrong.
『Grrr…….』
Soon after, as the beast let out another low, growling cry, a familiar figure revealed itself from behind it.
“…That’s.”
The black and white striped kitten we had seen in front of the lodging.
As if unafraid of the giant white tiger behind it, the kitten walked forward with light steps and, with a blue nimbus of light, revealed its true form.
Unlike Tom’s rough and rugged transformation, this one was smooth and natural.
It was a change imbued with a distinctly mystical feeling.
Shaaaa—!
Pointed pink ears perked up.
Hair perfectly split between black and white.
Contrasting, vivid cerulean and golden eyes.
Translucent skin that naturally brought the word ‘noble’ to mind.
Valencia La Bael Tigris.
“…It’s been a while.”
“……”
“Thomas.”
…The last of the Beastkin royal bloodline greeted us.
* * *
“Princess……”
As Tom, with an expression that was hard to describe, helplessly muttered, she cut straight to the point.
“Why did you come?”
“……”
A cold question.
It was a frigid voice, completely devoid of any lukewarm emotions like the joy of a long-awaited reunion or anger towards Tom.
Was this a completely different reaction from what Tom had expected?
Or was it because she was so different from the ‘Valencia’ he remembered from his childhood?
He bowed his head with an unprecedentedly flustered expression and moved his lips.
“That is… well…”
It was a rare sight that anyone who knew Tom’s usual personality wouldn't have believed even if they saw it with their own eyes.
It was only natural, but the reason he was acting so differently was that, from Tom’s perspective, Valencia was the most difficult person to face among anyone alive.
It might have been different if they had no connection at all, but in a situation where all his family and relatives had been killed, she was the one he had been closest to.
The one he had spent the most time with.
The one he held responsibility for.
And the person Tom himself had thought he had killed.
Considering that the guilt he held for the entire Beastkin race stemmed from his failure to protect her.
The feelings he had for Valencia could not be summed up with a simple ‘sorry’ or ‘difficult’.
Therefore, for Tom, the current situation was bound to be more difficult than ever.
Should he apologize first?
Or should he first answer the question she had asked?
Or perhaps, was simply turning back the right thing to do for her sake?
He couldn't be sure of any of it.
As he agonized, Tom unknowingly turned his head toward U-jin.
“……”
Shrug—
Instead of an answer, U-jin just shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘handle it yourself’.
‘…….’
Tom, who had kept his head bowed while his lips quivered a few more times, finally raised his head as if he had made a decision.
And, he was about to speak the words he had organized after much thought, but.
“To rebuild the Beastkin Nation…”
Shake, shake—
Before he could even finish his sentence, she shook her head.
“No.”
“……”
“If you wanted to say that, you should have come a little sooner. Thomas.”
A firm refusal.
It was so firm that there was no room for persuasion.
If she had shown even the slightest opening, he might have tried to say more, but being rejected before he could even finish his sentence, Tom had no idea how to continue.
“I have no intention of taking on such a position.”
“……”
“So just go back.”
“……”
“The Beastkin Nation is already over.”
Furthermore, she exquisitely prodded at the guilt Tom held in his heart.
She wasn't pointing fingers and saying it was his fault. It was just a light comment about what he had been doing all this time, but with the speaker being Valencia, the guilt in Tom's heart was amplified even further.
“Go. Thomas.”
“……”
Expressing her refusal once more as if driving a nail, she gestured with her chin as if to say, ‘if you’re done, get out of the way’.
It wouldn't have been impossible to force a conversation, but Tom still couldn't say a single word.
The words just wouldn't come out.
That was the perfect expression.
Even though he knew what he had to do, and he knew all too well what it meant to return empty-handed.
He just couldn't bring himself to speak in front of that cold face.
And, just as Tom was at a loss.
“…I don’t know about that.”
“……?”
“I doubt that position is so trivial.”
As if he had been waiting, U-jin intervened in the conversation.
“No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem like a position you can take just because you want to, or refuse just because you don't.”
“…Who are you?”
“Who do you think I am?”
“……”
Did she just think of me as one of the underlings Tom brought along?
Slightly knitting her brow with a look of confusion at the sudden intervention, she tilted her head before shaking it once more and muttering.
“Well, it doesn’t matter who you are.”
“……”
“After all. My patience ends here.”
With that low murmur, she closed her left eye.
As soon as the brilliantly shining golden eye was covered by her eyelid, the giant white tiger roared once more.
Krrrrrck—
As if releasing the leash of a hound that had been eagerly waiting, the white tiger tensed its body with the roar and prepared to leap at once.
『Grrrrrr—!』
The moment its paws were about to leave the ground with that thunderous roar.
“Wow. Isn't this patricide?”
“……?”
At U-jin’s exclamation of wonder, Valencia’s left eye opened again.
Flinch—
As Valencia’s closed left eye reopened, emitting its golden light, the white tiger’s body froze.
“…What does that mean?”
“Why are you asking me? You know better than I do, Valencia.”
Then, at U-jin’s added words.
“You should stop your dad if he's about to bite someone.”
“……!”
“As his daughter, you shouldn't be egging him on.”
Her eyes widened into circles.
* * *
The Man-eating Beast.
It was so obvious in the context of the situation that there was no need to explain it.
The giant tiger that appeared before our eyes with Valencia was the true identity of the Man-eating Beast that had devoured countless Villains in Aileen Village.
Its arrival here now, if my prediction was not wrong, was for the purpose of taking the pig-like Peddler inside.
The fact that its glaring eyes were fixed not on us, whom it was directly confronting, but on the lodging behind us, proved this.
And as I looked at the majestic tiger, I became certain of the true nature of the Aileen Village Man-eating Beast, which had remained unidentified despite the visits of numerous Beast Hunters.
‘…So it wasn’t inherited.’
And that certainty stemmed from a document I had seen pre-regression.
By the time I arrived in Aileen Village pre-regression.
Of course, by then, Aileen Village had already been destroyed on a kingdom-wide scale and was in ruins, so it wasn’t that I saw the Man-eating Beast myself or heard about it from someone who knew.
It was because, in the confidential files of the executive agency that had informed the Suicide Squad of Valencia’s existence, there was a brief mention of the Man-eating Beast.
==
[UMC-44]
Alias, Villain Hunter.
『An unidentified creature controlled by the protection target, ‘Valencia La Bael Tigris’. Its origin and identity are unconfirmed, possessing the characteristic of only hunting Villains and rarely leaving a trace. It has a form, but it is more of a mana-manifested Thought Form than a physical body…….』
==
Because they were a group always short-handed due to managing countless other unidentified creatures, it seemed they hadn't taken the time to clearly identify it.
But the identity that could be specified through the combination of the collected and listed information was quite limited.
Therefore, from the moment I finished reading that document, I had identified the Man-eating Beast’s true nature with near certainty.
The trait of hunting Villains.
The characteristic of leaving no trace.
A mana-manifested Thought Form.
And most decisively, the fact that it had a connection with the princess of the Beastkin Nation, ‘Valencia La Bael Tigris’.
The conclusion that could be drawn from all that was, in the end, only one.
‘…The former king.’
The last king of the fallen Beastkin Nation and the father of ‘Valencia La Bael Tigris’.
Allen Tigris III.
That was the true identity of the giant tiger that had been serving as Aileen Village’s Man-eating Beast, its guardian spirit, punishing the Villains.