-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Regret? Bullshit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Cough."
On a ground soaked with blood, a mouthful of blood splattered onto the dirt.
There was already so much blood scattered everywhere that it didn't even stand out, but I quietly watched that one mouthful mix into the puddle.
'...Damn it.'
What the hell had gone wrong where? The blood trickling from the corner of my mouth wouldn't stop. It hadn't been this bad even when I tangled with those Lortel Family knights.
That's when a voice rang in my ears.
"Impressive. I thought you were done for, but you hung in there somehow."
That ugly mug.
It was the Patriarch.
Unlike me, who was a total wreck, the Patriarch didn't have a single wrinkle in his clothes. He looked down at me and spoke in a magnanimous tone.
"See, didn't I tell you? The gap between you and me is something you could've known without even testing it."
"Damn... you're strong as hell."
And indeed, he was right.
Unlike the bold way I'd started the fight, the whole thing had ended in utter futility.
No, if you just looked at the process itself, you could call it fiercely intense. For me alone, that is.
The Decullan Patriarch's magic was solid and vicious. It was truly—
A disaster.
The earth split when he stomped, and lightning poured down like rain at a mere gesture. Fighting him felt like defying nature itself.
Amid all that, only I was desperately trying to reach the Patriarch.
As I replayed the battle in my mind, the Patriarch's voice made me lift my head.
"How about it? You seem ready to talk now. Shall we pick up where we left off?"
"So, you want me to crawl back under the Decullan shadow?"
"That's right."
His straightforward answer made me burst out laughing involuntarily.
Maybe because I'd taken a hit to the gut during the fight, my abs throbbed with every laugh, but even so, I couldn't hold it back.
"So, you're telling me to become a Troubleshooter again?"
It wasn't a question expecting an answer. It was just ridiculous. But for some reason, the Patriarch furrowed his brow at my words and tilted his head.
"Oh, didn't I mention? I didn't say become a Troubleshooter again. So...."
The Patriarch suddenly rummaged in his robes. He soon handed me something. It was a token swirling with a jade-green glow, and his voice echoed in my ears.
"I think you know what this is."
"...!"
Exactly as he said.
I recognized the token right away without any explanation. There was no way I couldn't.
A Vassal Token.
No matter how great the Decullans were, they couldn't shine alone. There were certainly pillars holding them up.
Those were the Vassal Families.
And the Vassal Token was proof given to families who swore loyalty to the Decullans. That's what the Decullan Patriarch was offering me now.
In other words...
"You want me... to become a Vassal Family Patriarch?"
"Precisely."
I silently took in the Vassal Token.
'Ha, this is insane.'
If he'd offered me mountains of gold, I wouldn't have wavered.
I was a Troubleshooter by trade. Money didn't matter. I could steal what I needed, and the secret vaults of great houses were practically mine anyway.
But the position of Vassal Family Patriarch was different.
"It's a position where you can do anything. If you want, I'll even give you good land."
A position where you can do anything.
Yes, if you had to sum up a Vassal Family in one phrase, the Patriarch's words fit perfectly.
The Decullans, the greatest magical house on the eastern continent, wielded influence that overshadowed even imperial authority.
They said the Emperor rules the Empire, but the Decullans rule the entire East.
"What do you say?"
I just stared at the Patriarch.
"So, this is your real goal, huh?"
I pulled an ancient tome from my robes. It was something I'd unintentionally snagged while raiding a Decullan secret vault—a Grimoire.
If I handed over the Grimoire safely, he'd give me a Vassal Family position or whatever. His intentions were obvious.
But why? The Patriarch suddenly burst into laughter.
"Ha, haha."
A dry laugh. Grating to the ears. But his expression looked genuinely amused, and then the laughter cut off abruptly.
"You seem to be underestimating your own value. Look—the scene you've created."
The Patriarch's eyes changed in that instant.
He spread his arms wide as if to show off, and behind him lay the devastation.
Decullan mages who had met their end by my hand. The site had been obliterated by the battle with the Patriarch, but the traces were still unmistakably clear.
"Who would believe it? That a filthy Black-White Slums drifter caused all this. And with nothing but the trashy spells Troubleshooters learn."
His voice grew stronger with each word, and an inexplicable madness gleamed in his eyes. But the emotion directed at me was pure favor.
He continued.
"I'm curious. With Decullan wings attached to your talent, how far could you soar? With you, that blade, in Decullan hands—how far could we go?"
His eyes no longer held me.
No, they did, but he was seeing a slightly distant future. The glorious future with me in the Decullans.
The great Decullans made even greater.
He subtly urged my choice.
"Come under the Decullan shadow. Rise with us. Right by my side, making the Decullans greater. You'll leave your name in history too. Of course, you'll have to return the Grimoire."
My gaze was fixed on the Vassal Token like it was nailed there.
'....'
By nature, I'm not one to regret the past. Much less whine over a status I didn't choose.
But I was curious.
Born a Black-White Slums drifter. Started late. But what if I had Decullan wings? How far could I go?
That's when I thought that far.
"Good, you've made the right choice."
My hand was already reaching for the Vassal Token.
As the cold texture touched my fingertips, I suddenly looked up at the Patriarch's face.
The emotion there was pure joy.
As his hand let go and the Vassal Token was fully in my grasp, I held out the Grimoire.
"Take it."
"Thank you. With this, all your transgressions are forgiven. From now on, only the glory of standing with the Decullans awaits you...."
The smile on the Patriarch's face deepened. His voice even sounded excited.
But that smile didn't last long.
Whoosh.
"...!"
A blaze erupted in an instant.
Just before the Patriarch's hand touched the Grimoire, a small flame devoured it. A low explosion rippled through the air right after.
Crack!
This time, what shattered was the Vassal Token.
No, to be precise, it was right to say I shattered it.
The Patriarch froze for a moment, as if unable to accept it, then glared at me with a cold face.
"...What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Heh, what else? Didn't I say take it? If you like it burnt to ash, that is."
"...."
A heavy silence descended.
I laughed, and the Decullan Patriarch glared at me with a icy expression.
A dry wind swept across the bloodied ground where the Decullan mages lay with closed eyes right then.
No, not wind.
What blew between me and the Patriarch was a single thread of killing intent. Thick murderous rage from the Decullan Patriarch who couldn't contain his fury.
I suddenly looked up at the sky.
No wyvern was flying there, but that day's sky was vivid in my mind. The day I decided to retire.
'Now that I think about it, there was a reason.'
I'd decided to retire because of that sky. The wyvern soaring freely through it. But there was a reason I'd looked up in the first place.
"Patriarch, listen."
"You won't die easy."
"Shut up and listen, then."
I opened my mouth.
"By nature, as a Troubleshooter, I never needed retirement funds. We know our lives are worth less than paper."
What's paper? Lighter than a feather—that's a Troubleshooter's life.
Any other Troubleshooter would've been grateful just for the chance to retire, let alone funds. But I was different.
"But why'd I gather all this stuff? It ties into my reason for retiring. You know the Troubleshooter swallowed by Decullan's Young Patriarch?"
"...."
The Patriarch didn't answer.
The guy who'd been glaring like he'd kill me moments ago now just frowned and waited for my words.
Well, he had no choice.
The Decullan Young Patriarch had touched a forbidden line. Unlike his father, his talent was sorely lacking, so he'd lashed out to fill the gap.
What he touched was...
Forbidden magic.
The Young Patriarch had devoured my comrades with it, and when the Decullans learned of it, they buried the incident completely.
"So, revenge?"
"Heh, why would I?"
I know my life's worth is cheap, and so did my comrades. Why bother repaying such paltry value?
But...
"I just thought I'd make their dreams come true. But to do that, I need a ton of money. That's the reason. Yeah, that's it."
That's why I'd looked up at the sky that day. I couldn't swallow the rage boiling from my comrades' pointless deaths. I couldn't do a damn thing.
So, I wanted to retire.
Revenge? Screw that—they died because they were weak. But at least I could fulfill what they dreamed of.
"Oh, one more thing."
Actually, this was the biggest reason.
"I finally decide to retire, and you want me back in the doghouse? A shiny collar and a bigger house don't make it not a doghouse, right? Heh."
"Done with your last words?"
"I could talk forever if you want. Wanna keep listening?"
The Patriarch shook his head.
That was it.
No more words between us.
Sizzle...
A stinging pain started from my toes. I looked down to see blue ghostly flames flickering.
"Decullan's pride, the Azure Flame. An eternal blaze that never goes out. In its midst, regret your choice to your bones."
"Regret? Bullshit."
The pain slowly gnawing at my flesh from the toes up was incredible.
For some reason, my mind stayed sharp through it. But still, no regrets.
'Who the hell would be a dog again?'
No way in hell!
Rather than be a Decullan lapdog for generations, I'd go back to the filthy Black-White Slums.
If even that wasn't possible, death wasn't so bad.
"Heh, heh heh."
Even in the maddening agony, the laughter didn't stop.
How long had it been since I felt this liberation?
It would've been better if I'd escaped alive, but looking back on my life, I had zero regrets.
If reborn, I'd be a wyvern.
'Soar the vast skies all day, then swoop down when bored. Find Decullan bastards and mess with them.'
Freedom and revenge. Like hunting goblins and orcs.
The pleasant fantasy made me smile.
Flash—!
My vision flashed white right then.
"...?"
Puzzled, I lifted my head and soon noticed the changes around me.
The Azure Flame devouring my body had frozen solid, and the Patriarch hadn't moved an inch.
As if time had stopped.
Only one thing moved.
Wriggle, wriggle.
'...The Grimoire?'
The ashes of the Grimoire clutched in my left hand twitched like a living thing.
Clumping and dispersing like slime, and then the anomaly hit.
Ssss.
Ashes burrowing into my skin.
No, not ashes. They were letters.
'What the....'
The strange letters seeped into my skin, crawled up my arm, and flooded into my chest.
Right over my left heart. The letters piled up, losing form.
Then they flashed once.
Crack.
Leaving just a single letter behind, they vanished.
That's as far as my memory went.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again.
"...."
Clink.
I tilted my head.
'Didn't... die?'
No, that wasn't all.
Something was off.
How to put it. The scenery before me, when I looked up, felt too damn familiar.
The dented can in my hand, the coins inside it.
Even the alleyway looked familiar.
Like I'd gone back in time, to a too-familiar scene?
Pondering the eerie déjà vu for a moment.
"Ah."
A gasp escaped me.
I remembered something.
This place...
The Black-White Slums.
The very alley where I'd scraped by day to day before becoming a Troubleshooter.
'No way....'
I'd turned back time?
There was no other explanation.