A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 90
“…Is it really something to be so surprised about?”
“It’s more than enough to be surprised about!!!”
“Then what did you think? You saw the summary list, didn't you.”
“Well…”
U-jin’s assertion, ‘You saw the summary list, didn't you,’ left Eliya speechless.
It was true that she had read the 2-Star Trait 'Whole Vampire' in U-jin's summary list.
But.
“…But.”
Yes, as U-jin said, she had read it, so she had nothing to say.
But she couldn't help the sense of injustice welling up in her heart.
At the time, the summary list itself was riddled with all sorts of unbelievable things.
And with him being immediately put on trial, she hadn't had the luxury to care about anything else.
It wasn't that she had erased it from her mind, but there hadn't been enough time to ask and answer such questions.
And since U-jin's situation was dire, having been sentenced to a punishment equivalent to the 'death penalty', she had no choice but to push it to the back of her mind.
Besides.
Putting everything else aside, the very fact that a pure-blooded vampire was still alive was astonishing in itself.
Since he seemed to command a great number of Beastkin, Eliya wouldn't have been this surprised if he had simply said he was a Beastkin.
That would have been within an acceptable range.
But vampires were a different story.
It was already an established fact in the Upper Plane that the entire Vampire (Vampire) clan had been driven to extinction by vampire hunters.
“Well, at this point, you’ve probably figured it out without me having to say more.”
“……”
“The reason I got the vampire Trait is because J. J. here bit me.”
At U-jin's addition, Jerry offered a brief rebuttal.
“…If you put it that way, it sounds like I forced you.”
“So what? Let’s just go with that then.”
“……”
Ssk—
“Look. A bite mark.”
U-jin rolled up his sleeve, showing the scar left alongside the magic circle.
“……”
At the shocking story, Eliya, who had been looking back and forth between U-jin and Jerry, was unable to speak further.
For her sake, U-jin took the lead in the conversation.
“Alright, since it’s come to this. We might as well have a question time.”
“……”
“Three. I’ll answer exactly three questions, whatever they are. Let’s count that last one as one…”
Shrug—
“Two left now.”
* * *
It seemed she was genuinely shocked by the fact that Jerry was a 'descendant of the vampire clan', which was known to have been annihilated, but Eliya didn't just stand there with a dumbfounded expression forever.
From the look in her eyes, it seemed she thought another chance like this wouldn't come again.
…In reality, once I entered the Darkest Dungeon, it would be an indefinite amount of time, so she wasn't wrong.
And so, the question the girl uttered after deep contemplation with a serious expression was.
“…What about Ms. Cheong?”
It was a question about Cheong-yi.
“If I remember correctly, she activated a 3-Star Trait called ‘Heavenly Demon’. I’d like to know how that was possible, and what the word Subordinate attached to the front of it means.”
“……”
“…Please tell me.”
It wasn't a difficult question to answer.
Although I had said, ‘since it’s come to this,’ I had actually planned to give Eliya some explanation from the moment we entered the Guild House.
Thud—
“Her name, as you know, is Shim Cheong.”
“……”
“Just as you saw in the summary list, she is the successor who inherited the blood of the first Heavenly Demon, and the new master of the ‘Demonic Sword’ passed down through the Demonic Cult. That’s what they call the ‘Heavenly Demon’.”
“……”
“…For reference, the Demonic Sword I’m talking about is.”
Ssk—
“This sword right here.”
“……”
“It may look like this, but it’s a Holy Relic.”
At the mention of a Holy Relic, Eliya’s mouth fell open even wider.
“…Good heavens.”
It was an understandable reaction.
The 3-Star Trait that appeared in the summary was certainly surprising enough, but…
...a ‘Holy Relic’ was a different story altogether.
Come what may, a Holy Relic was a transcendent weapon engraved with the power of a being that had reached divinity.
A high-tier weapon that could be considered a national treasure passed down through a 'nation', not just an individual.
And such a weapon…
“…Then the thing you used to slice the meat earlier was.”
Shrug—
“It’s pretty sharp, after all.”
“……”
The fact that it had been used for nothing more than slicing meat must have been quite a shock from her perspective.
…In fact, thinking about the characters of ‘Chi You’ that had rung so persistently in my head when I was cutting the meat earlier was still enough to make me sick of it.
“And a Subordinate is a kind of special contract attached to the vampire Trait…”
I wondered how best to explain it.
Then, Cheong-yi’s jeogori caught my eye.
“…It’s probably better to show you directly.”
“……”
“You ready, Cheong-ah?”
“…Hmm? Ready for what—.”
Pushing forward the bewildered Cheong-yi, who was confused by the sudden question, I…
...just as I had done for the first time in the cave in Shandong, personally performed the Heavenly Demon mask dance (?) for Eliya.
Flail flail—
Her reaction was just as enthusiastic this time.
“W-Wait, stop for a moment! Brother.”
“Hands above your head!”
“Even if we have a promise, showing this to others without any notice is a different story—.”
“Shake it like you’re crazy!”
After putting on a dance that overwhelmed (?) the audience for about 10 seconds, Cheong-yi…
...as soon as the compulsion was released, she turned to me with a glare and muttered.
Sizzle sizzle—
“…For the price of this humiliation, this counts as one and a half.”
“……”
“I was three times as embarrassed, so don’t you dare say otherwise later.”
Smirk—
I nodded in agreement at her solemn declaration, then spoke to Eliya, who still wore a serious expression despite the comical atmosphere.
“This should give you a rough idea of what the Subordinate relationship is like, right?”
“……”
“…Then, the next question is.”
Considering her first and second questions.
I had a rough idea of what was coming.
Ssk—
“This one?”
Nod—
Eliya nodded at my finger pointing toward Loxy.
“Does Kim Sia… also have something hidden? Something I don’t know…”
“It’s not Kim Sia. It’s the Succubus that appeared in the Gateway Zone.”
“……!!!”
At the blunt conclusion, Eliya’s eyes widened.
“H-Ha…”
Loxy gave an awkward smile and a slight bow.
“I just trapped her in that body using my own methods. The one inside isn’t Hero candidate Kim Sia, but a Succubus.”
“…Why a Succubus… no, more importantly, how…”
“You don’t have to worry too much. I’ve prepared other methods, and she’s decided to be on the good side… besides.”
Shrug—
“…She didn’t run away, did she? While I was gone. That should make her trustworthy enough, don’t you think?”
Her face crumbling in disbelief at the series of shocking truths, Eliya muttered in a voice that clearly revealed her confused heart.
“Then the errors that have been occurring in your system information all this time were because of that.”
Shrug—
“Well, it’s not like I was trying to hide it from you.”
“……”
“It’s just that I have a few things I need to hide from those Constellation folks. So I used that one’s demonic singularity.”
A moment of silence fell over the area.
“…Did I ask three questions?”
“Yep. Three. All of them.”
“…I’ll ask just one more.”
After a brief pause as if to organize her thoughts, Eliya quietly posed her final question.
“…No matter how much I think about it, there are parts I just can’t understand.”
The question she insisted on adding was directed at me.
“Let’s say I can somehow understand meeting a Succubus, meeting a vampire from a race thought to be extinct, and meeting the successor of the fallen Demonic Cult.”
“……”
“No, honestly, even that much is so bewildering that the word ‘absurd’ doesn’t even begin to cover it… but anyway.”
“……”
“But even if I accept that.”
She paused for a beat.
“…Just how can you, the Hero, accept all those absurd events so naturally?”
Smirk—
It was a question that touched the very core.
Probably the doubt that had been growing in her heart ever since she first met me at the border of the Gateway.
“…It doesn’t make sense. How can a Hero candidate experience these things and accept them so calmly…”
“……”
“What is your identity, Hero?”
Was her heart weary from the succession of my answers, which were far beyond a level she could comprehend?
Though there was no real reason for it, her voice was tinged with emotion.
‘…This is why I didn’t tell her beforehand.’
It seemed this was not something a little Attendant Priest who had just been ordained could easily handle.
It was as if the words ‘Why me of all people’ were swallowed within her voice.
Her voice weighed on my mind.
Was that why?
Words I hadn't planned on saying until just a moment ago came out of my mouth.
“…Before I answer your fourth question, let me ask you one more thing.”
“……?”
“Are you confident you can handle it?”
A hint of bewilderment crept into her jumbled expression, a mix of distress and chaos.
“If you can’t handle it, I won’t answer.”
“…What?”
“As you’ve probably already realized, I’m not exactly a typical case. You probably won’t be able to accept it even if I give you the answer.”
Shrug—
“You still want to hear it?”
Eliya fell silent at my heavily weighted question.
Loxy’s eyes flinched toward me.
As if to say, ‘Are you really going to tell her?’
“……”
How much time passed in that silence?
Soon, Eliya’s tightly sealed lips parted.
She confessed what was on her mind.
“…Honestly, it’s true that it’s difficult. You’re so, so different from the Hero candidate I imagined during my time as an apprentice priest.”
“……”
“Even the stories I’ve just heard are things I find incredibly hard to accept, and as you said, they are far beyond the realm of what’s normal.”
Her voice now carried a rich sincerity that was different from before.
“But still.”
“……”
“…I have to hear it.”
And those sincere words once again…
“…Because I am your Attendant Priest.”
…contained her powerful will.
“…Please tell me, whatever it is. Because I am your Attendant Priest.”
Grin—
At her unwavering answer, the corners of my mouth lifted unconsciously.
I was extremely curious to see her reaction to this answer.
…So.
The answer to the fourth question she asked.
My secret, known only to Loxy.
My identity.
“Me.”
I.
“This is my second playthrough.”
The fact that I was a ‘Regressor’.