A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 156

“You should stop your dad if he's about to bite someone.”

“……!”

“As his daughter, you shouldn't be egging him on.”

As U-jin spoke with a meaningful expression, vaguely revealing the Man-eating Beast’s identity, Eliya asked urgently.

“…What? His daughter? Hero, what did you just mean by that?”

“……”

“Don't tell me that giant tiger is……”

Nod—

“That’s right. It’s what you’re thinking, Africa.”

“……”

“Allen Tigris III. The last king of the Beastkin Nation.”

U-jin nodded, spelling out the clear truth in two short sentences.

“……”

The last king of the Beastkin Nation.

His whereabouts had been secretly managed, and due to the Beastkin tradition of not revealing names before a coming-of-age ceremony, almost no one knew of the existence of his daughter, Princess Valencia.

But anyone who had even a slight interest in the Beastkin Nation could not have been ignorant of its last king, ‘Allen Tigris III’.

Partly due to the title of ‘the last king of the Beastkin’, as he was the king overseeing state affairs at the time of its fall, and partly because he was the most widely known of the Beastkin kings, having nearly achieved harmony with the Order Territory through a more inclusive and flexible foreign policy than any king in history.

However, despite knowing his identity, a look of persistent doubt remained on Eliya’s shocked face, as if there was still something she couldn't understand.

The reason was simple.

“…But surely. As far as I know, Allen III is supposed to be dead.”

Befitting the title of ‘the last king of the Beastkin’, he was known to have died at the hands of Count Dracula during the fall of the Beastkin Nation.

Moreover, as far as Eliya knew, he wasn't just treated as missing; an investigator dispatched from the Order had discovered his body.

She knew that a state funeral had even been held as the Order absorbed the remaining citizens of the Beastkin Nation as refugees.

For such a deceased person, for whom a funeral had been clearly held, to return alive and well like this.

It was impossible unless one used a forbidden grimoire possessed by an evil god.

It was an act that went beyond a simple ‘miracle’ and defied the laws of the world-line.

But to deny it as simply impossible…

“Your Majesty……”

Tom Hardist’s reaction was far too certain.

While he had maintained a somewhat ambiguous attitude until U-jin’s confirmation, upon hearing U-jin reveal the identity, he had already knelt on one knee, his eyes growing moist.

For the proud Tom to be the first to kneel, it seemed that, just as U-jin said, the giant tiger was indeed the former king of the Beastkin Nation.

Furthermore.

“……”

The fact that Valencia was glaring at U-jin with an expression that was half displeased, half shocked, and the way the tiger’s movements, which had seemed ready to pounce at any moment, had halted.

The look on U-jin’s face, as if he had hit Valencia right where it hurt, also spoke to the truth of the matter to some extent.

‘Allen Tigris III.’

To think the Man-eating Beast’s identity was the dead former king of the Beastkin Nation.

“…What in the world.”

The sudden development and paradoxical context.

In a situation where her head was already spinning, Eliya couldn't grasp how things were unfolding.

She should have been used to it by now, but since he brought about unbelievable things in a different way every time… even though she had vaguely guessed something like this would happen, she couldn't help but be caught off guard again.

…However.

The confusion that was making her head spin.

“…A Thought Form.”

With U-jin’s next muttered word.

It was resolved in an instant.

* * *

What is thought?

Going by its dictionary definition, it is ‘the entire process of ideation performed to reach a conclusion on a certain problem,’ an abstract concept that is more of a process than an object with substance.

It goes without saying that because of this, its power in the real world was bound to be weak.

As a simple example, in a trial, physical evidence can be adopted as decisive proof to conclude a case, but circumstantial evidence or suspicion cannot.

A concrete material composition that is visibly present in the real world was bound to be more powerful than an abstract thought inside someone’s head.

Therefore, in most domains, a concrete substance with a form was bound to have more power than an abstract thought without one.

If so.

Is thought merely a hollow process that is entirely conceptual and has no effect on reality?

‘…No.’

To get straight to the point, that was not the case.

To be more precise.

…At least, in the realm of handling mana, thought was almost equivalent to something with a physical form.

It could even exert an influence greater than that.

The reason could be summarized in one sentence.

‘Mana responds to will.’

That fact alone was enough to assert its importance.

Mana was the world, and the world was mana.

Mana was the power to bend the laws of the world.

And mana made many things possible that were inexplicable in the physical domain.

And in the process of utilizing such mana.

Skills, magic, Artifacts, even the rhythm of a poem recited by a mere street bard—the starting point of their effects was a single thread of the user’s thought.

Thus, in the domain of mana utilization, the meaning of the concept of ‘thought’ could never be overlooked.

The process of invisible thought, upon meeting mana, manifested as a miracle in reality.

There were so many examples to explain this that it was unnecessary to list them one by one.

Using a skill beyond one's usual level in a life-or-death situation.

The phenomenon of natural objects moving as mana stirs around a person in a state of extreme rage.

The fact that something desperately wished for actually happens as a miracle.

These were all examples explaining the influence of thought combined with mana.

‘The materialization of thought.’

As long as mana existed, thought did not simply remain an abstract concept but became a concrete and powerful influence existing in the real world.

And the concept that exists at the extreme end of such ‘materialization of thought’ was.

A Thought Form.

“If it’s a Thought Form……”

Eliya’s face changed with a low ‘Ah…’ of realization.

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through her mind, and she seemed to have a piercing epiphany.

…Well.

It was only natural.

The Thought Form was the key to this Aileen Village Man-eating Beast incident.

It was, so to speak, the ‘final puzzle piece’.

“This tiger is Allen Tigris III’s Thought Form. Rather than saying he’s a being who came back to life……”

“……”

“It would be more accurate to say it's the part of him that hasn't died yet.”

Thought Form.

A tangible, independent energy formed from a collection of thoughts, will, or desires.

Just saying ‘Thought Form’ might not bring a clear image to mind, but in truth, a subject that could best explain the concept of a ‘Thought Form’, even if not perfectly analogous, could be found quite close by.

‘…An Artifact.’

While not all Artifacts were like this, many existing Artifacts followed the mechanism where the strong will of the creator or user was imbued in them, allowing their power to remain even when outside the direct sphere of influence.

The mechanism of such Artifacts itself was practically no different from ‘a Thought Form residing in a material object’.

In particular, in the case of ‘Holy Relics’, which could be said to be at the pinnacle of that field, the vast majority of them had the lingering thoughts of a transcendent being, imbuing them with divinity.

From the perspective of someone who had used an Artifact, the term ‘Thought Form’ wasn't all that unfamiliar.

Even Cheong-yi's Demonic Sword, ‘Chiyou’, was a Holy Relic created with the will of the first Heavenly Demon—that is, a ‘Thought Form’—imbued within it.

…Well.

Of course, in that only the thought remained without an Artifact, the case of ‘Allen Tigris III’ was a little different from a typical Artifact.

‘…It’s not common, though.’

Cases like Allen Tigris’, where only a Thought Form remained on its own, were not common.

Since mana itself has the property of convecting and scattering, to maintain a condensed thought for a long time, an object with the gravitational pull to hold that thought was necessary.

And in most cases, such an object was something used in life.

That was how Artifacts were created.

Even the Artifacts created in such a way did not last forever.

The will left by the user or creator was bound to fade over time, and unless the Artifact's user inherited that will or infused it with a stronger mana influence, it would naturally lose its power as an ‘Artifact’ and be reduced to an ordinary object.

…If even Artifacts were like that, in the case of a Thought Form without an Artifact as a medium, the speed at which the will would vanish would surely be faster.

Theoretically speaking, it made no sense for Allen III’s Thought Form to still remain in the present world.

That was why even I was unsure about the Man-eating Beast’s identity until I arrived in Aileen Village and saw it for myself.

==

[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…….』

==

Of course, when I saw the information provided by the agency, I thought it resembled the characteristics of the royal bloodline, the head of the Beastkin, and it was even clearly written as a Thought Form.

Nevertheless, it was so difficult to be certain that a Thought Form remaining in the world for 100 years without a physical medium was not something one could easily find.

I had left open the possibility that Valencia might be using a traditional Artifact of the Beastkin royal family to imitate the Man-eating Beast.

No, to be honest, I had secretly hoped for it.

The difference between the Man-eating Beast's identity being ‘Valencia’ and being ‘Allen III’ was, literally, as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

‘…….’

Inheritance.

The power passed down through the generations of the Beastkin royal bloodline, which should have been delivered to his heir as soon as the former king died, had not yet been inherited by her because his Thought Form still remained.

…Her odd-colored eyes, with one still remaining blue, proved this fact.